The Book of Oa- Return of the Green Lanterns
by DC Redux
Summary: In 1975, four brave astronauts left Earth on a mission to the Moon, discovering an alien base and taking home a mysterious lantern. Only three came back home. Decades later, NASA, having completed their latest shuttle with the alien technology found, has sent Hal Jordan and a rag-tag team of experts into space to find the elusive Green Lantern Corps. [Part of the DC Redux Universe]
1. The Last Green Lantern

**DC Redux Presents**

" **The Last Green Lantern"**

 **An Abin Sur Story**

 **Written by Bodhi Ouellette**

* * *

 **Rann:**

The sandstorm was getting worse and worse. It's harder to trench through the deserts in this kind of weather. I'm having a hard time seeing through these goggles. The sand is getting everywhere, my cloak feels like it's going to rip off of my body. All the beasts that roam in these deserts are nowhere to be found. No food tonight, it seems. I have to get back to shelter. So close, but in this weather, I feel that it will take longer to reach. Not unless I use the ring… No. It's too risky. I must press on in this weather. I can't let them find me again.

Towards east is where my shelter is located, inside of a hollow cave, easily hidden within this desert. In there, no one could ever find me, not unless I stay quiet for the remainder of my existence that is. The staff will keep me protected, keep my balance from the wind. The storm is getting stronger and stronger, any longer out here and I may be either buried by the sand, or flying with it. I have to move fast. If I'm lucky I won't be caught by any gunfire by fighter jets from either Rann or the Thangars.

Suddenly I can hear echos in the wind. I peer around carefully, checking my surroundings, or what I can see of it. The howling, it is of one of the disgusting beasts that ravage in these spaces. Too many have I slaughtered for food. Maybe I will get food afterall. I prepare my staff, pressing a button near the grip and from both ends of the staff shot out a blade. I slid the top ends of the staff closer together, making it smaller, easier to wield. I prepared myself from anything that would dare come near me, all the while still leading my way back to my shelter. I didn't hear another growl for awhile. Then, from behind, I could hear it chasing after me, it's breath like a siren. I quickly turned around and stuck the blade forward, scraping some skin off the four eyed beast that attempted to attack me. The beast reset his footing, I prepared myself for another strike. The beast's teeth grind, fresh and dried blood is dripping and chipping off. He's hungry for me, but so am I. Luckily for me, I've slayed these vermins on a weekly basis. He lunges over towards me, and I once again take a jab across his face, creating a massive gash across the beast's nose. It's bleeding profusely, but nonetheless he still stands. It tries to jab at me with it's claws, but I dodge his strikes at every attempt I can get. The beast makes one final blow before I impale the tip of my blade into it's heart. It struggles for a second, but it finally loses it's hold on reality, and falls down on the ground dead. The storm I've noticed is dying down. My luck has finally returned, it seems, and I begin to slice pieces of the beast up for food.

I've finally made it home, inside of the Cave. I've created a makeshift bed and table with scraps I take from a local town's trash heap. Some metal crates, a mattress, a small table where most of my junk goes, and makeshift refrigeration center, where I keep all of my food. I prepare myself a stew, cutting up the pieces of meat into chunks and throw it into a pot full of broth. Stirring it occasionally, I lay back beside the cave wall and periodically look over to see the decomposing corpse hidden at the end of the cave. I look at it, and everytime I do, it reminds me that although I may be running from the most vile force of evil living in this universe, at least I am not dead like the poor individual over there. It could be much worse than this. Once the Stew is done, I eat about half of the pot, before allow myself to digest and then fall to sleep…

The sky was bright red, like blood seeping through the clouds. The fire burning across the lands, bodies everywhere. The Hunters poured out from the sky like raindrops, cracking the ground when they landed. Their eyes glowed a blinding red, as bright as the sun. Their arms extended, morphing around like putty into cannons. The blinding red in their eyes transfered into their arm cannons as they began slaughtering all of us, no matter how much force we used, their power overcame. Throughout the years they hunted remnants of the Green Lantern Corps, and killed those who still continued on its legacy. Here, in the Mountain, they are coming for us…

We ran towards the exit down the small hallway, collapsing behind us. Closer and closer were the walls of our haven crumbling by our feet. My teacher, a man with six arms and four eyes, with pale yellow skin and long legs helped direct me out of the tunnel. I could see the light coming closer and closer, the exit close to our grasp. By then, he pulled me into his arms and jumped his way out from the tunnel, finally caving into itself. The smoke from the rubble covered us. He stood me back up and brushed off the dust from my shoulders, then kneeled down so that he was directly facing me. He knew I was scared of them, scared of what they would do to us. "We are almost there," he told me, wiping the tear off of my cheek. "They won't harm us, ever. I promise you."

I sniffed back the mucus building inside of my nostrils. "But… what will happen if-"

"They won't ever get to you. You are ready, my child. If it does come to it, you must go and take the battery with you, and get as far away as you can from them. As long as you never use the ring, they will never find you. Now come, we must get going."

We continued our way through the temple we resided in. An old school carved in the middle of a mountain, made to train younger members of the Green Lantern Corps. We could hear the mountain cracking above us, as they attempted to break their way through the thick walls of carved rock and stone so that they can kill us. I trusted my master that he would lead us to safety, but I feared that he and I would not make it out alive.

When we reached the room, we peered open the door that hid the only battery we harbored in the mountain. It's bright shining green light threatened our eyesight, blinding us with it's rage. It's desire to be used, to fuel our rings with the unending powers it wields. My teacher grabs it off of the rock it rested on, and looked back at me. "We have the Lantern," he stated. "We must get out of-"

The ceilings cracked open. Without a seconds thought to react, the brutes in red landed inside, breaking the earth beneath them, and almost immediately, attacked us with ferocious speed, pinning my master to the wall, losing grip of the Lantern which happened to be flung towards me. I grabbed it mid fall, and as I looked up I could hear him scream "RUN!" before his entire upper half of his body was reduced to a charcoaled red. It was then that the Crimson hunters turned their attention towards me…

I ran faster than I ever had before in my life, running from my inevitable fate from the hunters. Holding the battery tight in my arms, avoiding every blast from them, I closed my eyes and whispered the oath of the Green Lanterns. "I _n brightest day, in blackest night…_ " but they caught me off guard, knocking me into the wall, falling down onto the lantern, still holding it tight. They lifted me up from the ground and pinned me to the wall. I struggled to look away from them, I could not bear seeing their horrific faces. They try to pry the lantern out of my hand, but I keep holding on. Then it lays his barren hands onto my wrist, burning my already pink skin into a burnt read. I cried out in agony, it felt like the heat of a thousand suns had touched my skin, so I quickly created a ring construct that blew the Hunter's face off of it's body. I landed back onto my feet, and continued to run. " _No evil shall escape my sight…_ " They were coming closer and closer. " _Let those who worship evil's might, beware my power, Green Lantern's light!_ " I shut my eyes tight, as I could feel the heat of one of their blasts approaching me. But instead, I felt nothing. When I reopened my eyes, I found myself around a bubble. They tried to break the shield that was protecting me, but nothing seemed to bulge. I then lifted my arm high, high into the sky, and with an immense force, broke the ground below me and split the air in half, traveling through space at a velocity that was too fast even for me, enough to make me pass out…

Once I woke up and made myself breakfast, I began to clean up my living space, collecting papers and tools off from the floor and table and throw them into a crate. Inside of one of these crates I remember, is a green Lantern. It's still glowing, although very faint. I don't even remember the last time I've ever recharged the ring, still placed on my ring finger. But I can never use the Lantern under any circumstance, unless I want to be found again. I have to stay quiet, and never use the ring ever again.

Today I ventured out into the city, as I was missing an important component that I needed to use to repair a radio I had purchased a couple of weeks ago. I had made a knack out of repairing old scrap I found in the city's local dumpster and repairing them, sometimes I even sold the items for a little bit of cash. Being in the city, roaming around the streets among the rest of civilization, it is a very different lifestyle then mine, much more sociable, but I prefer to live in the desert. I like the quietness from the outside world.

I purchase the necessary items needed at the shop, and as I begin to head back home, I hear a loud explosion, the sound ringing in my eardrums. I am very close by it seems, to what is happening. Already people begin to run away, as another explosion sets off. I turn around to find the entire block is being ariel bombed by men and women wearing gold armor, with wings that are keeping them into the air. A few of them descend down into one of the buildings, while the others begin to drop bombs into the streets. The trail of explosions setting off almost reaches me, so I hid behind a corner of a building so the blast does not hit me. When the smoke and debris cleared out, I glimpsed out to find the winged warriors carrying out a middle aged Rannian man and taking him away from the area. A family, distraught, comes out from the building, as more people come out from the other complexes.

"They took him!" The woman wailed. "They took my husband, and they're going to kill him!"

"They took the Senator?" Another citizen cried out. "Those damned Thangarrians!"

I joined in, with the rest of them as the crowd began to holler obscenities, worryful comments, and comforting words to the family whose father, and now it seems important political figure, was taken away from them. The Rannian's are all so defenseless, they have no idea what to do against the threat.

"We can't take anymore of this abuse from the Thangarrians!" professed a citizen. "We must stand up to them and save the Senator!"

"With what weapons?" replied another. "We have nothing to combat them! No swords, no guns, _nothing!_ "

"Someone has to step up and take charge! We must show them what it means to mess with the people of Rann! Who will step up?"

There was a cold silence within the small group of citizens. I stood forward. "I will do it." The crowd then gives me space and I walk towards the family in peril. The youngest one, a girl, stares up at me, fearful of my somewhat hostile look. "Y- you will save daddy?" she said.

I kneel down. "I will. And I will make sure those who took your father never lay a finger on him ever again."

"Oh, bless you, kind sir." the mother utters giving me a big hug. "You must hurry, who knows how long they will keep him alive before they-"

"That won't happen. I will find him in no time." I started to leave, but then the girl grabbed my sleeve.

"Before you go… what is your name?"

"My name is not important. I am just a friend who is here to help."

* * *

 **Thangarr Tower:**

The tower was apparently planted outside of the city walls as a means of threatening Rann's capital city. It is where the Thangarr's base themselves on this planet. Those are just the specifics as I follow the tensions between the two societies very loosely. But the Thangarr's have threatened to kill an innocent life. Being raised with the ideals of a Green Lantern, we must stand up against those who intend on harming or oppressing those powerless to defend themselves.

Through my binoculars, I can see up top of the tower. The Senator is not the only hostage they have up there. There are dozens of other individuals like the Senator joined with him in their kidnapping. Some of the guards up there have large assault rifles. One man, in particular, has a mace with tiny spikes on the ball. This is more than just a kidnapping. This is an execution. I must hurry before they kill them.

I put my binoculars away and pull out a couple of scrap metal, holding it tightly in my hands. Peeking the corner revealed three guards, all separate, and positioned at different spots. When they all looked away from my direction, I threw the scrap metal over to where they weren't looking over. The sound attracted them over to investigate, leaving me to bypass them and continue on. I sneak behind another guard, pulling out some rope I wrap it around his neck, choking him enough so that he would pass out, pulling the body behind a bunch of boxes stacked up. I move on, getting closer and closer to the tower, when suddenly, a guard turns the corner and spots me.

"You there! What are you doing in the perimeter?" he called to me. I quickly pull out a smoke bomb and lunge it at the guard, before he could pick up his walkie-talkie to inform the others. Although, the sound of the bomb going off will certainly alert anyone near me to come. I press a button on the side of my metallic strap, and flames exhale behind the pack. I fly up against the walls of the tower, eventually, reaching the top. When the Thangarrs notice me, I crash through the window and immediately, with my staff, I start picking off the guards one by one, beating them in even the simplest of combat techniques. To believe that the Rannian's are scared of these individuals.

I steady myself, facing what I can only assume is the General of the force. "Let these people go," I say, "Before I unleash my full set of skills against you."

"These people here threaten to take this land away from us!" the General cried. "We came to this planet offering peace and freedom from our own corrupt world and this is how they are repaying us, by sending us back!"

"This is not the way to negotiate for things, General," I say back to him. "There are other means than kidnapping."

"You don't understand, fool. We've tried that. But they won't listen. So now, we are using other means of negotiation." The Thangarr General pulled out his pistol and placed the barrel by the Senator's temple. "By means of torture and violence."

I stared helplessly as he slowly pulled on the trigger. "No!" I screamed out, where my arm extended out and the fluorescent, glass like construct of a clap, grabbing the gun out of the General's hands and flinging it across the roof. The Thangar looked at me with bugged eyes.

"Bastard… Shoot him!" He ordered the other soldiers to do, immediately a blaze of gunfire heading towards me. I shielded myself with another construct, this time in the shape of a semi half bubble. It's been so long since I have felt the energy of the ring flow through my body. When all of their bullets ran out, it gave me the chance to create a massive hammer and swiped them all off their feet, landing onto the ground. When some of them attempted to get back up, I came up close to them and smacked them back down with a gauntlet with thorns on the ends of them. I then grabbed each and every one of the Thangar warriors and pinned them to the wall, by retrieving some loose metal and wrapping them around it. With the exception of the General, who I approached, still on the ground. He looked up to see me, cowering back. "Who… are you?"

"My name is Abin Sur," I revealed. "I am the last Green Lantern alive. Remember my name, and remember who I am the next time you decide to beat another citizen of Rann to a bloody pulp. For the next time you do that, I _will_ come for you."

With that threat, I created another bubble around all the Senators and brought them off the tower and back into the city.

When I returned to the city, with all of them safe and sound, they all reunited with their respective families and friends. They thanked me for my noble act, and wished to repay me, but I denied their offer. I told them, "I won't be able to stay much longer. I now put myself, and everyone else in danger just by using this ring. The Manhunters will come for me. I must escape, and get as far away from this planet as possible. Forgive me… You are all strong. Stand up for yourselves, and you will win this war. I trust you all…"

I left them, quickly returning back to my cave in the desert to retrieve my Battery, and then, for the last time, shot up into the sky and left the planet. I flew past asteroids and stars in my venture to escape the Manhunters once more. I can already tell they are behind me, the red glow seeping behind my eyesight. This time, it seems, that I must face the one thing I have been escaping from all my life… Death.

But now I'm no longer afraid. If I am to die, I am to die a noble death. Let the Manhunters come. I will show them what it means to be a Green Lantern.

* * *

 **Stay tuned for more one-shots introducing your favourite classic DC characters to this bold, daring new universe!**

 **Find out what happens to Abin Sur, as well as the mystery to the disappearance of the Green Lantern Corps in DC Redux's "The Book of Oa" by Bodhi Ouellette**


	2. Like Father, Like Son

**DC Redux Presents**

 **The Book of Oa**

 **Written by Bodhi Ouellette**

 **Chapter 1 - Like Father, Like Son**

* * *

 _Have you ever traveled to a new location before, someplace like the Grand Canyon, or Niagara Falls, and find yourself absolutely stunned by the view of such a beautiful landscape? You might see it many other times in your life, but nothing will ever beat seeing it for the very first time. That was what it was like to go into space kids. To view the vast universe, to see the Earth from hundreds of miles away, to step onto the Moon and feel yourself sink into its crater._

 _We were only hundreds of feet away from the Moon. Our ship, the Apollo 21 made preparations to land on the surface. In the Command Module, I, and three other brave astronauts sat patiently for the vessel to reach lunar orbit, all the while admiring the view of out there, in the empty-less universe full of stars._

" _Would you look at that?" I uttered to my colleagues. "Never in my lifetime would I ever expect to be here, looking out there."_

" _It's a beauty to admire, Martin," my friend Walt replied. That man had the most amazing handlebar mustache I've ever seen. "Men like us… we're lucky to even experience this."_

" _And hopefully, we won't be the last ones to do this either, Walter," my friend Will said. "Soon enough, the whole world will experience what we've seen here."_

 _I looked back out, thinking about the moment Neil Armstrong took the first step on the moon. "One small step…"_

" _One giant leap for mankind," our Captain finished. Captain Alan Scott was probably the most selfless, most caring man I've ever met, a mentor and role model everyone should follow. "Now pay attention, Jordan; in a few moments, you have to detach the Lunar Module from the ship and land you, Dr. Haley and I safely onto the Moon's surface, while Dr. Magnus stays here so we can ensure a safe trip back. Understood?"_

" _Yes sir, Captain Scott," I answered._

" _Good. Then let's get ready."_

 _I, Walt Haley and Captain Scott aboard the Lunar Module, while Willy Magnus took the Captain's seat. Scott flicks up a switch on the board. "This is Captain Alan Scott of the Apollo 21 informing you all that we are in the Lunar Module and ready to detach from the Command."_

" _*Zzzf* Apollo 21, you are free to launch, over. *Zzzf*," replied someone back home, at NASA… Carl, I believe._

" _You're good to go, rookie, take it away." Captain Scott told me._

" _Affirmative, Captain," I said. We all buckle ourselves in, while Willy gave us confirmation for us to detach the Lunar Module from the Command. With a press of the button, the Lunar Module separates from the ship. I was in charge of controlling the Module so that it would land safely on the Moon. Slowly, but surely, the Lunar Module descends down onto the surface of the Moon. "We are twenty-five feet from landing," I reported, counting down every moment we descended closer to the surface. The anticipation was building inside of me. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity for an astronaut like me. I wanted to make sure I'd take in every second I had out there on my mission. Then, finally, the pod landed on the Moon._

" _We have made a safe landing, everyone," Captain Scott announced to us. "Prepared to continue on with our mission."_

" _*Zzzf* Copy that, over. *Zzzf*" Carl replied._

 _Captain Scott unbuckled his belt. "Alright you two, let's move fast," he informed us. "We must go in, retrieve all the necessary items and then get back here, back to the ship and head home. NASA's counting on us to find the ultimate jackpot. Ready?"_

" _Affirmative!" cried out Haley._

" _Yes, sir!" I said._

" _Great. Let's go treasure hunting. Open the doors, Jordan."_

 _I pressed a button on the panel, which decompressed all the air inside of the ship. Then Captain Scott pulled the lever, and opened the latch up, and released the ladder below. One by one we exit out of the pod like we were recreating the first step Neil Armstrong took on the moon. All three of us were now on the surface. "Incredible," I said, overwhelmed by the sight of the Earth I could see from the Moon._

" _Damn, Will, you sure are missing a great view!" teased Haley._

" _Kiss my butt, Haley," Magnus shot back bitterly through the coms. Haley laughed, Martin snickered a little bit._

" _Alright everyone, settle down," interrupted Scott. "Let's get going."_

 _When all three of us landed on the Moon's surface, we bounced our way over to the destination, the footprints we were leaving behind imprinted into the moon's crater, like the way the sand forms around your feet when a wave pulls back into the ocean. Moving around on the Moon felt like a trampoline the way you bounced up from the low gravity. Haley and I even joked around a bit by making cool flips when we could, and then we'd get quickly scolded by our Captain, picking us up from the ground and telling us to get back on track. He was a very serious man, always focused on the mission._

 _We reached a massive ditch, and inside of the ditch, what we found was shocking. Inside was an abandoned base, planted directly inside of the ditch. It was circular in shape, low leveled to the surface. Not only that, but there were footprints left behind. We were stunned. I looked back at Captain Scott. "Is this what we're looking for?" I asked him._

" _Indeed it is," he replied back, I could tell that even Captain Scott was surprised by this major discovery. "Let's head inside and search it."_

 _We all made our way towards the entrance of the base, the thick doors broke off somehow. I grabbed my flashlight, as did the others, and we ventured inside. The interior was large, there was the main room which was the size of a stadium, circular in shape, with multiple platforms placed above each other. On the floor, we noticed, was a green circle with two lines on the top and bottom of the circle, and around it was an even bigger circle. Everything was covered in moon dust, and empty for the most part. We didn't find anything of worthiness in the main room, so we moved on into smaller hallways, with individual rooms, some of them were bedrooms we assumed, with the lockers and drawers emptied out, though some belongings were left behind. A couple of journals made out of materials similar to leather. I flipped through one of the books to find it all to be written in a language I had never encountered before. These, my kids, were definitely aliens living in this base. What happened to them though we needed to figure out._

 _We took some of the stuff left behind to study later back on Earth, then continued on into the hallway. We turned a corner to find a bright green light coming from a room at the end of the long hallway. "What the heck is that?" Haley expressed._

" _Let's find out," I said. We entered inside of the room, and on a small stone table sticking out of the ground was something that I could only describe as some sort of… Lantern. It was in a similar shape as the symbol on the ground, and in the middle glow a bright green light. The rest of the room had tons of blueprints hung from the wall, open books scattered everywhere. When I peered at the corner, was the remains of a… well, you guys might be too young to know what we found._

 _But everything else in the room we were incredibly focused on. We took every single book in the room, grabbed every blueprint, and finally, we dared to grab the Lantern from it's resting place. "Martin grabs that glowing object," Captain Scott ordered._

" _Yes, sir." I approached the Lantern, and apprehensively picked up the Lantern. Nothing happened, at first. Then the stone platform sunk into the ground, and inside of the room, a blue light flashed. The room started to shake violently._

" _We have to get out of here, now!" Captain Scott ordered. We made our way through the hallways crumbling behind us as fast as the gravity could let us pass. Kids, this was exactly like the moment Indiana Jones picks up the idol and get's chased by a boulder in Raiders of the Lost Ark, except in space. But we were into the main room when a shaft fell below us. I was stuck behind Captain Scott and Haley, so I got caught on the platform, trapping me on the ground. It was too heavy for me to lift it myself._

 _Captain Scott stopped and looked back to find me trapped. "Martin!" he screamed. Haley had already hurried off back to the module. Captain Scott turned back around to help bring the shaft off of me. "Hold on!" he shouted back, but I waved my hand back._

" _No! Don't save me! Grab the Lantern and get out of here!" I frantically told him. At that time I had accepted my fate that I would not make it out alive._

" _Not gonna happen, Martin!" he replied back. "Everyone's getting out of here alive!" With all his might he forced the broken platform off of me and helped me back on my feet. The room was now imploding on itself. "Go!" he cried. I grabbed the Lantern off from the ground, and I made it out of the building alive, diving out as fast as I could. I spun around to see if Captain Scott was behind me, but I did not find him there._

" _Captain!" I yelled out. "Captain Scott are you there!" No answer. The dust had settled inside of the now destroyed base. Captain Scott was nowhere to be found, stuck in the rubble of the fallen debris. I could hear Haley's words come through the coms asking me to come back to the ship. He then asked me, "Is Captain Scott okay?"_

" _No…" I said hesitantly. "He didn't make it…"_

 _I returned back to the ship, entering back into the Module, flying up into the ship, and after telling the people back home what had happened to our Captain, they gave us the go ahead to head back home. We all were quiet on the long travel back to Earth. Our thoughts were twisted with the discoveries we've found, and the explanations we were to make about Captain Scott's death, died on December 17th, 1975; just a few days short of celebrating Christmas… Captain Alan Scott saved my life, kids… His selfless sacrifice allowed me to have the life that I have with you and your mom… I'll never forget what he did for me…_

* * *

 **Coast City, The Jordan's Home; 1993:**

"Wow…" the child sitting in the middle of his three other brothers uttered in disbelief. "So what happened when you got home?"

"Well, Hal," started his father, "We came home with the book and the Lantern, and handed it over to N.A.S.A. Of course, the confiscation of what we found couldn't be revealed to _anyone_ in the world, but we knew that whatever it was that we got, it was going to change our world forever."

"Did you ever get to go back into space?" Hal asked, clearly the only one still invested in his father's story, as his older brother, Jack, went back to playing video games and his younger brother, Jimmy, far too young to pay attention to most things dozing off with a stuffed bear.

"I never needed to, Hal," continued his dad. "They stopped financing missions to the Moon after the discovery, and now that the first man died on the Moon, they wanted to make sure they never had another casualty like that ever again. But Captain Scott saved my life, the crew, and the mission. I owe my life to him, and you and your brothers for that matter, too."

"Dad, you had the coolest job ever!" blurted out Hal in excitement. "When I grow up, I wanna be an astronaut!"

The words rang inside of Martin's ears with delight, if not a bit worrisome. Whether or not Hal would continue with this fascination will yet to be seen, but he has hopes that he will stick to his guns; after all, a Jordan is known for sticking to what they want to do. Before he could speak again, his wife entered the room. "Dinner's ready!" the two ran into the dining room, while Wendy picked Jimmy up from the ground. He glanced over to her with a smile.

"Hope they enjoyed the story," he whispered to her.

"I'm sure they did, spaceman," she replied kissing him on the cheek.

* * *

 **NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland** **; 2014:**

"Testing, testing, one two three," Hal Jordan repeated into the microphone. "Can everyone out back hear me?"

"As clear as day, Command Module Pilot," one of the lunar module pilot's repeated through the coms inside of a replica of an official NASA spacecraft cockpit, attached to pivots and gears that allow the pit to move. A group of five other scientists watches the test through a glass window. Within the cockpit are hidden cameras to maneuver their every movement, testing them on all aspects of the test, which can be seen on a huge monitor dividing up each camera angle into individual boxes they could watch through. In their hands were clipboards, with checklists for grading their performance. One of them presses a button on the keyboard.

"He's no CMP yet, Vic," replied one of the reviewers. "But if he keeps it up in this test he might be."

"Y'know, Command Module Pilot doesn't sound as catchy as, say, _Commander_ ," Hal responded.

"People gotta start somewhere," he said. "At least you've got the word in your title."

"First, he has to remember people's names," joked the actual Commander of the test.

Hal began to get annoyed by the teasing. "Can we start the test already?"

"One more moment… yup, you're all good to go. We're starting the clock, you've got ten minutes for your test. Your performance will be graded based on the efficiency of communication, and ability to complete the mission in the timeframe you have. Good luck."

Hal and his crew prepared for the mock journey into space, first by launching the ship. With all the buttons and switches being pressed and flicked, it almost acted like a symphony the way every piece had to work together in order for them to not cause their own deaths from one mistake. All the while, their Commander has initiated the countdown. "All systems go, we are ready to launch. Commencing launch in ten… nine…. Eight…" the ship began shaking, subtle, but noticeable. Noise can be heard mimicking the sounds of the engines starting up. "Seven… six… five…" the shaking got violent, and the sounds got louder. "Four… three… two… one… Blast Off." The shaking kept up, with the similar force of flying up into the sky being mimicked, replicating the feel of being launched in a gigantic metal cockpit. All of the pilots, including Hal, tensed in their seats. No matter how much training they had to prepare them for such a feeling, it shook them to the core, the sense of ascending to higher levels. Of course, this was only a test, and their work wasn't done just yet.

Once they were into space, Hal quickly took over the controls as he was in charge of piloting the ship past a certain perimeter where the test would be completed. Pivoting the control stick ever so slightly, even the wrong turn can redirect them off course. "We're almost at the end, ladies and gentlemen… Just… gotta keep going… any second now. We don't have to worry about anything…"

"Enough with the snarky remarks, Hal," interrupted the Commander.

"Yeah, man, you don't want them to fail us just because you can't keep your mouth closed."

Hal concentrated further. He jerked the joystick more, pushing it further along the path, at a faster speed than before. This notion alerted the Commander.

"Hal, slow down, we're in no rush," said the Commander. "Remember, ease on the stick."

"We're two minutes away from failing this mission, Commander, a little bit more speed won't cause anything to happen" Hal brushed off. "We'll make it, trust me."

The red sirens went off, indicating something is wrong. "Air pressure is going down, sir!"

"Hal, you need to slow down, we are not in the right transition from atmospheres."

"Less than two minutes, Commander, we can make it."

"You don't know that-"

"We'll make it!" Hal screamed back. "This can work, trust me."

Hal never backed down. He kept the ship at a faster pace than usual, causing a stir amongst his colleagues. "Hal, I order you to slow down!"

They were reaching the point of completion. Hal had figured this out, by speeding the ship up just a little bit, they'd reach the end without failing based on going overtime. Hal wasn't going to deal with doing this test a third time. The clock ticked down, twenty seconds left, they were twenty feet away from completion. The sirens got louder, crazier. By the time they reached completion, everything went away. The sounds, the artificial view, the lights from the screens and the blinking red light. Nothing went wrong. They passed.

But that certainly didn't mean Hal would get a glowing review on his scores. A solid C is what he got on his sheet. Hal just sat in his chair pondering the absurd score he received. "Ridiculous!" he protested. "I helped complete the mission!"

"Yes, you did," started one of the testers. "But you almost risked the survival of the crew from your recklessness."

"Oh come on, nothing happened! I made sure we wouldn't cross the breaking point, just so we could achieve the goals in the remaining time we had. Is that not good enough?"

"Hal, you need to understand this crap doesn't pass by when you are actually up there in space. That is dangerous and reckless, and you need to learn how to not do either of those."

"Christ's sake, you're telling me I failed the test for the second time…"

"I'm sorry, Hal. You'll just have to do it again."

"God damn it…"

"Hold on one moment, someone is at the door." The Tester left the room, as the anger inside of Hal grew immensely. He failed a second time, how dumb did he have to be to fail it once, let alone twice. He was just about to protest to the Tester again, until another man, in a full black suit came in with a grieved look on his face. He cleared his throat. "Hal Jordan," the man started. "I am sorry to announce this to you, but your father, Martin Jordan, died this afternoon from a heart attack…"

* * *

 **Coast City Funeral Home; One Week Later:**

Hal entered the doors of the Funeral Home, greeted by members of is distant family there to honor that who has passed. Martin Jeffrey Jordan retired NASA pilot, and beloved husband and father of three boys, gone from this world. A table was outside of the room which displayed pictures of Martin with his friends and family, as well as pictures of him when he was younger, as a boy up through his adulthood, in NASA, and after his career, with his boys enjoying fun hiking trips and games of baseball. He remembered vividly, a day where he accidentally threw the ball at his younger brother's face, bruising it, with his father having to care for him while he and Jack fought with baseball bats like lightsabers, making the humming sounds attached to it. He picked another photo up, with just him and his dad. They were in an open field, and he had a space shuttle in his hands. He soon escaped into a recollection of memories with him and his father, so deep in his thoughts he didn't even hear his brother Jack approach him from behind, tapping him on the shoulder. Hal quickly turned around. "Hey, Jack, good to see you again," Hal softly greeted. "How's Mom?"

"She hasn't stopped crying since he passed," Jack answered, directing Hal into a big room with candles lit up and dozens of chairs lined up. His father's coffin was on the other end of the room, opened, with flowers covering his body. He could see his mother and his younger brother Jim sitting up front, comforting his ill mother. "She hasn't dropped a tear this morning, though. I feel like she's all out."

Hal paused. "How are you and Jim doing?"

"I'm… managing. It happened all of a sudden, I'm still a bit shaken up by it."

"Guess we should've known sooner. Why are there so many chairs out, Jack? I thought this was a _private_ gathering?"

"It would've been, Hal, but… with my position as mayor, and his involvement at NASA, they insisted they have a bigger wake and funeral for him. You've got your speech, right?"

"It's right here," tapping on his left breast pocket.

They finally reached the rest of the family. Hal bends down to hug his mother, kissing her on the forehead, then hugging his younger brother Jim. They sit together up front when the ceremony began. The room was packed with family members, friends and members of NASA. It began with a few words from the Priest, who detailed the role Martin Jordan had in the community around him, from friends and family to the work he had done for the Church. Even as an astronaut he was faithful to God. The speech moved many in the room, though this was no high feet to make when you are a Priest speaking for the dead, as every speech will hit home to any man, woman or child who has lost someone close to them. To honor them with such words elevating them to higher standards. At most, Hal appreciated it. After the Priest spoke, Jack stood up from his chair and approached the podium with a speech in his hands. He cleared his throat.

"My father, Martin Jeffrey Jordan, was a man who always appreciated all the little things in life…"

"Christ sake," Hal dozed off after hearing such a horrible beginning to a speech about his father. To be fair, Jack didn't know Martin like Hal did, mainly because Jack was never connected to him the same way he was to his father. It didn't help that Hal had the same interests as his father, and his brothers didn't, sometimes this caused fights between the family as it felt that his dad wouldn't appreciate the direction of politics that Jack wanted to go into. As for Jim, well, architecture was always his strong suit, so building and designing houses will give him a steady lifestyle, unlike him or Jack. At this point Hal didn't even listen to what his brother had to say, most of it was all nonsense. Jack always liked his mother more anyways. The thunderous claps peeked into his ears again and brought him back to reality. He looked up to see his brother positioning his arm in a gesture welcoming him to the podium. Hal got up from his seat and stood behind the podium with his speech out. Now the spotlight was all on him. He gulped. "I… I remember a story my father told me once. About a brakeman who saved his life. The story of a man's sacrifice so that he and his colleagues could come home to their families safely. He…" he stuttered, wiping off the sweat from his forehead. "He told me how before that day he never considered himself a selfless man. He had never done anything to help someone in need. There were countless of times he could've. But he didn't. He didn't do it because he never thought about it. It didn't cross his mind that he should do the right thing. His friend died saving his life. And…" Hal took a deep breath, then continued. "And that event not only changed his view on life but his view on how he can help those in need. This message reached even me as a child. It made me believe I could do the same, that I could do what my Dad did. I wanted to be my Dad. And so I decided I wanted to become an astronaut. I worked hard to try to make that dream possible, and I promised him that he would get the chance to see me in space. Now, that's not going to happen…" Hal couldn't keep his emotions inside anymore, his voice cracked and the tears started to drop. "Now I have a feeling that all that I've worked for is no longer worth it… I can't even pass a god damn test my first try, let alone three! I'll never be as good like my father was… I'll never achieve his dream… I'm sorry…" he left the stage in a haste and removed himself from the room. He rested beside a wall far away from anyone to hear him, and the waterfall of tears streamed down his face. The dream of flying in space was gone. There was nothing left for him, except despair.

* * *

There was no-one left at the wake, except for Hal, who sat right next to his father's coffin. He held his crumpled letter in his hands, his eyes red, and his nose stuffed. He looked over once more at the coffin elevated above him. "I'm… I'm sorry I didn't keep in contact with you at the academy, Dad," said Hal. "I guess I was afraid that you'd be disappointed in my work. It took me so long to get to where I am now and I'm still not even there yet. There's no hope for me. I'm sorry, Dad…"

He got up and placed the letter with the batch of flowers left behind. He said but one thing for his father before they had to take him away. "I love you, Dad…" And he left.

He left the building and was about to head to his car when he heard a woman's voice speak up behind him. "That was a very noble speech you made, Hal," she said to him. Hal turned around to see a woman, dressed in all black, with long black hair and green eyes, a beautiful smile that even warmed Hal up.

"I tried to keep it all inside, but I couldn't," Hal started to explain.

"It was sincere. You're still shaken by his death, I understand. But I found your speech to be honorable and true to the man that he was."

"Did you ever know him?"

"I didn't, unfortunately. My father did, and from what I have heard from him he was a very noble, and heartfelt man. He would've been proud of your work, Hal."

"Thanks... who are you?"

"Carol Ferris. I work for NASA on behalf of my dad who couldn't make it. I wanted to talk to you about something, over coffee?"

Hal shrugged. "Am I in trouble?"

"No, nothing like that. I have something I'd like to offer to you…"

* * *

 **Coffee Shop:**

The two sat next to the window of a very small little shop where the fragrance of coffee beans and breakfast sandwiches circulated the space, the sounds of pages turning into books and glass china grinding. Hal took his sip of coffee then placed it back down, while Carol Ferris took one from her cup. "So what's this offer?" he asked urgently.

"What is your wish, Hal?" she asked of him. "What do you want to do in NASA?"

He looked at her puzzled. "Did nobody tell you what my test scores were?"

"I've seen them yes. Those scores don't matter to me. I want to know what you'd like to do in NASA."

"Like what anyone would want to do; pilot a ship and fly into space. Venture off into the unknown, where no man has gone before. To visit a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. To travel the galaxy."

"He told you the story of what happened on that mission, correct?"

"He told me everything. He told me how it all happened, so many times that I can see it happen in my own mind."

"What happened on that mission has _never_ been disclosed to the public," Carol emphasized. "We confirmed that Captain Alan Scott of Apollo 21 made an unfortunate slip into a ditch and died from the fall and that we could not recover the body. It was a massive f*%^ up that caused N.A.S.A a Captain and a mother and her newly born daughter a father. But on that mission, which my father was a part of, we recovered technology and scriptures of an ancient alien society that we believe is out there, somewhere in this galaxy."

Hal placed his cup down once more. "What did you do with the tech?"

"After figuring out its functions, we managed to re-engineer it, to create our first ever ship that could travel more than past the moon in three days. It can travel to Mars and back in less than _three hours_. We're very near close to making this announcement to the public that we will be starting our exhibitions into space once more, and that I will be commanding a small crew to travel with me. I want _you_ to be my pilot of the _Alan Scott Interceptor 1._ "

His jaw was wide open at this incredible request. "But I- I mean the tests said that I wasn't ready-"

"Do you want the job or not?" Hal didn't even need to think about this. He already knew what his decision was. He knew it since the day he wanted to be an astronaut, to begin with.

"Yes…"

* * *

 **The story of Hal Jordan continues as we discover more about this new mission to space, to find a lost society, and to travel through the vast universe, in the second chapter of this space epic; The Book of Oa. Catch the other stories with all of your favorite superheroes reimagined only at DC Redux.**


	3. The Interceptor

**DC Redux Presents**

 **The Book of Oa**

 **Written by Bodhi Ouellette**

 **Chapter 2 -** ** _The Interceptor_**

 **Top Secret N.A.S.A. Base, Texas:**

* * *

The limousine drove Hal Jordan and Carol Ferris, and a couple of her assistants on a long dirt road out on a flat field of grass and fences. For miles, the wooden fences blocked hurdles of cows and horses from trailing off into traffic. Eventually it transitioned into heavily guarded metal fences, with a couple of armed security guards patrolling the borders with checkpoints. Hal looked forward at Carol. "Well that's a sudden mood shift," commented Hal. "What is this, Area 51?"

"Don't be ridiculous," Carol replied, smiling. "Area 51 is a fictional location meant to scare people. This location is _Area 52_."

"Oh shit, we're getting into some top secret intel here, don't back out now," Hal snarked. Carol rolled her eyes.

The limo reached a base that only seemed about two stories high. The limo parked against the curb right in front of the main entrance. Carol, Hal, and the other men accompanying them exited the limo and proceed into the building. "Welcome to the first floor of this base, Hal," said Carol. "Interceptor."

She led the group to an elevator, where inside the spacious but confined old wood style walls featured buttons with labels that went down as far as subbasement number twenty. She pressed on number twenty, and all watched as the elevator dropped them down onto the lowest possible floor of the facility. The doors opened again, revealing a room with very tall ceilings, multiple platforms and floors built inside, all leading towards the center of the room; where the Alan Scott Interceptor 1 was resting, in an upwards position. The ship was much smaller, and more compact in certain areas than a regular spacecraft. It certainly didn't look like your typical spaceship. Hal marveled at it.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is the Alan Scott Interceptor 1," said Carol. "The fastest and most durable spaceship ever to be created. It can travel to the Moon and back in five and three fourths tops.

"Ho...ly… _shit_ ," Hal spewed.

"Yup. Holy shit indeed."

Around the corner was a tall man, in a full suit, with thick grey hair, approaching Carol and the group. "Carol, great to have you back," the old man said to her. "This Hal Jordan right here?"

"Indeed it is. Hal, this is my father, Carl Ferris, the one in charge of this program," she introduced.

"I worked on the mission your father was apart of back in the day," stated Carl. "The one that made this entire mission possible."

"Apollo 21, yeah I know," replied Hal. "My dad told me the stories."

"Ah yeah, good man Martin was. I was upset that I wasn't able to go to his funeral. Carol went on behalf of me, and to also get you on board of this mission. Now, let me show you what this ship is all about." They got closer to the exterior of the ship. "As you can see, we've spent a good deal of time - and money for that matter - into the construction of this ship, and the research behind it that allows the Interceptor to function the way it does. This is probably the details your father never told you about. Of course, he wasn't allowed to tell anyone about this or else he'd be in a heap of trouble."

"Not even his own kids?"

" _Especially_ not even his own kids." They continued through. "When Martin Jordan, William Magnus, and Walter Haley returned from their mission with the Lantern, and the scriptures, our team went head first into deciphering those scriptures and blueprints. Haley assembled a group of archeologists and linguistics to do the best they can to decipher all that damn alien mumbo jumbo."

"How did that work out for them?" snarked Hal.

"Took them four decades to figure out what the hell they were saying, that's for sure. Hell, the group Haley recruited were notorious for their wacky discoveries, that they eventually dubbed themselves the _Challengers of the Unknown_. Hokey title if you ask me, but they got the damn job done. Once they figured out the alphabet to countless books they managed to rewrite them in plain comprehensible English, one was even translated to French and Spanish. Hell, they're so impressive they may as well be published as books once this mission is over. This shit puts _Dianetics_ to shame."

Carl returned back to the subject. "Anyways, enough of my old man ramblings. In those scriptures described the lives of members of a society called the Green Lantern Corps. They had established themselves across the galaxy as the universe's protectors, which is why we found one of their bases on the Moon. But something happened to them, and it seems as if they were wiped out by some unknown threat."

"So, what's the goal exactly?" questioned Hal. "I mean the _exact_ goal?"

Carl looked back at Hal with a smirk. "We're going to find ourselves some extraterrestrials and hope that they're still alive," he replied back confidently. "And hope that their friendly," he added. "Come, let me show you your crew."

He led the group over towards a wing on the ship, with two men, a white man with orange hair and freckles wielding a panel together, and another man, this one an african american with a short crew cut top holding down a piece of a wing and clinging it with a power drill. "Meet your other crew members, Jordan," exclaimed Carl. "The man with power tools bigger than his head is John Stewart, head engineer of the ship."

He held his hand out to Hal, wearing big working gloves over his hands "Nice to meet you, Pilot," spoke John. "Looking forward to working with you."

"Thanks, John," said Hal. "Will you provide us with your trademark humorous commentary of our politicians by any chance?"

"I ain't no comedian, if that's what you're getting at."

"Just wanted to ask. Who's the ginger over there?"

"This massive hemorrhoid in my ass is Guy Gardner," Carl answered. "'Gingerbread Man' here is the one who programmed the ship, miraculously, I admit. I was waiting for him to stop jerking off before actually doing the job I hired him for."

"And look where we are now, Mr. Ferris," Gardner interjected, his gravely voice echoing in the halls. "We've got a perfectly functioning ship that will do no harm to us once this beauty finally launches. Now keep making fun of me me like that and I'll make sure I release your history browser to the entire group, Carl," Gardner stated, aggravated.

"Hot temper you've got there," Hal replied. "Is that how you're going to talk to your Captain? I demand you drop and give me fifty!"

"Who the hell said you had any control over me, ya toolbag?" he snarked back. "Besides, you ain't my Captain," he points at Carol. " _She_ is."

"Alright, alright, break it up," Carl interrupted. "Now, you two, meet me in my office for a full debriefing in two hours. Oh, and make sure you got something formal to wear, got it?"

"Sure thing," Stewart calmly confirmed.

The group moved on. Carol leaned over to whisper into Hal's ear. "I really hate Gardner," Carol admitted. "I'm giving you full permission to treat him however you want."

"With pleasure, Ms. Ferris." They stopped in front of a big glass doorway.

"Here's your final member of the crew," stated Carl. "He's gonna be your most important asset on the team."

"How so?"

"You'll see." They approach a man wearing a red button up and khakis, and a lab coat. He's bent over his desk with a big spotlight hovering over him, as he deciphers text into a notebook. He hears them come in, and turns around to greet the team. "Doctor Strange, I would like you to meet our newest member; Hal Jordan, pilot."

"Nice to meet you, Mr…" Hal asked, holding his hand out as they shook.

"Adam… name's Adam Strange," he paused. "I uh, was in the middle of doing my final translations from the book, Mr. Ferris. Want me to show em?"

"All yours," answered Carl, taking a heavy cough. "You'd do a better job at explaining it then I would."

"Right." He picks both the book and the notebook up from the desk. "Okay, so, I'm guessing you were debriefed about the Apollo 21, yeah?"

"I've been told," Hal replied.

"Well, as you know, they found the battery and all, but they also found a bunch of scriptures and old blueprints," Strange continued. "When they returned home, and Mr. Ferris was, uh, put in charge of it's successor, the Interceptor, he tapped Haley to decode the language." He started flipping through pages, handing them for Hal and Carol and the rest of the group to look at. "It wasn't just him who decoded this of course. He had his own team he recruited that were in charge of deciphering the books and the blueprints. They, uh, were given the inside nickname of 'Challengers of the Unknowns' because of what they were doing here."

"What brought you on here?" asked Hal.

"Adam Strange was recruited under the request of Haley, who left the team years ago," Carol interrupted. "Mr. Strange was left with the task of translating the completed language into English for all of us to read. And he was left to figure out what the blueprints meant."

"Yeah, well the blueprints were easy to figure out," stated Strange. "And putting it all into the closest thing to comprehensible English was easy to do, it just took a long time."

"So what did you find?"

"Well, in the blueprints, I discovered that these, uhm… _Green Lantern_ _'_ _s_ managed to map out the extensive solar system beyond the Milky Way galaxy. They even mapped out locations of planets and bases too, so thankfully, we have an interstellar map that we've translated into the ship's hard drive, so navigating is going to be an ease. In the scriptures, it talked a whole lot about rituals, traditions and moral codes that the Green Lantern's supposedly followed, religiously it seems. They would pray in an empty cobblestone room where the only thing inside would be that lantern on top of a block. Then they would repeat the Oath of the corps."

"Which is?" finally someone from the back asked.

Hal started murmuring the words out with his breath. "'In brightest day, in blackest night, no evil shall escape my sight."

"That's the one.'"

"... 'Let those who worship evil's might, beware my power, Green Lantern's light'…"

 _"_ _In brightest day, in blackest night_ _"_

 _"_ _No evil shall escape my sight_ _"_

 _"_ _Let those who worship evil_ _'_ _s might_ _"_

 _"_ _Beware my power, Green Lantern_ _'_ _s light_ _"_

 _"_ _These are the words a Green Lantern recites to claim the powers of the Lantern. They follow that ordeal like a religion, and rightfully so. It is within the oath that the Lantern grants the user it_ _'_ _s power. And may the light shine across the universe_ _…"_

* * *

 **Conference Room:**

The low ceiling room occupying important funders, technicians, astronomers and physicists filled the seats of the conference room, where Hal Jordan, Carol Ferris, John Stewart, Guy Gardner, and Adam Strange, together for the first time sitting together as the official team of the _Alan Scott Interceptor I_. Hal leaned over to Carol's ear. "What's happening?"

"My father's going to be introducing all of us to important members of the government," she answered. "Then he's going to debrief the mission to all of us."

"Gotcha."

Then the doors opened up, and coming inside of the room was Director of the Interceptor Mission Carl Ferris, followed by NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, and finally, the President of the United States Barack Obama, wearing his usual black suit and white undershirt, and a tie that had a couple of space related relics like asteroids and stars. The five crew members were floored once he appeared in the room.

Carl cleared his throat. "Mr. President, it is with great pleasure to introduce the official team for the _Interceptor_."

All five of them stood up from their seats. Carl started naming them from the row down. "Hal Jordan, Pilot of the ship; Carol Ferris, captain; John Stewart, engineer; Guy Gardner, programmer; and Adam Strange, astronomer and decipher."

"It's good to meet each and every one of you here today," the President said. "All five of you are doing a great service for our country working in the top facility for space exploration. I'm excited to see what you've all been working on."

"Trust us, Mr. President," John Stewart injected, "We couldn't be more excited."

"I'm glad to hear that, from all of you." He stopped in front of Hal, giving him a second handshake and a pat on the back. "My condolences for your father, Mr. Jordan. Martin's services will be remembered for years to come."

"Thank you, Mr. President," Hal almost choked. "Really means a lot to hear that coming from you."

"Alright, let's get to business. Carl, take it away."

"Thank you, Mr. President," Carl replied, as everyone sat down around the conference table, staring at him. "Ladies and gentlemen, what I am about to show you may surprise you. It may even astound you, or scare you. But this is the world we live in, and in this world, we are about to go far and beyond what we originally perceived the question; is there extraterrestrial life beyond Earth? Well, I'm here to tell you, yes. And here's the proof." A television screen begins displaying images of the recovered items from the Apollo 21, including the scriptures and blueprints, and the Lantern battery. Many in the room gasped and murmured at the pictures presented. "Some of you are a little too young to remember this mission, or even know what was recovered from it," Carl continued, "But on December 14th, 1975 the Apollo 21 launched to the Moon, led by Captain Alan Scott. On their mission, they located a hidden base, not made by anyone on Earth, where we discovered the existence of alien scriptures and blueprints, and this green Lantern, which acted as some sort of power source for this unknown alien species. Unfortunately, in the midst of this, Captain Alan Scott was killed by falling debris when the base collapsed. The three other astronauts; Dr. William Magnus, Dr. Walter Haley, and late Pilot Martin Jordan."

He goes over to President Obama and Charles Bolden with leather envelopes for the two, along with a couple other high government officials and Generals invited. Inside of them were dossiers, pictures, transcripts, and notes written down from Walt Haley and Adam Strange in their discoveries. "When they arrived back here they transferred their findings to NASA to examine. Dr. Walter Haley was put in charge of deciphering the texts in the scriptures and blueprints, while Dr. Magnus studied the Lantern and deconstructed the mechanics. Overtime, both moved onto other projects, and Professor Adam Strange was put in charge with finishing up their work. What they found was not just an alien species, but hundreds, maybe even thousands or million different kinds of alien races that exist beyond our galaxy."

"What's this about?" Obama asked. "The passage?"

"That was written by an unknown member of this 'Green Lantern' society named Krona," answered Carl. "We don't know much about him, but he seems to have written what the top of the book is named The Book of Oa. Oa we believe is where the Green Lantern's home is."

"So what's the endgame mission, Mr. Ferris?" questioned Obama. "Where will this lead us?"

"We've been building a ship," Carl started. "A new model, by using the Lantern as a power source, we are capable of traveling through space almost close to light speed. What would normally take two to three days to reach the Moon, they can reach it in two to three minutes. We wish to embark on a two year quest, launch date December 14th, 2014, in anniversary of the Apollo 21 launch, and travel to different Green Lantern bases across the galaxy, in hopes that we will learn more about the expansive galaxy and become the first to go farther than any other country before."

His proposal was met with mixed reactions, lots of whispers and murmurs began circling around the table. The President stood still in his seat, with Bolden whispering something in his ear. His eyebrows rose up. "Has the ship been tested?" asked Obama.

"Only here on this base, Mr. President," he answered. "We can't really try it out in space yet without making a public announcement on what we're doing, unless we want people to get suspicious. But when we did test it out, it exceeded our expectations on mobility, speed, and durability. Nothing went wrong in any of the tests."

The President took another moment. He and Bolden whispered to each other for a few moments. The he got up from his seat, and tightened his tied. "Mr. Ferris," he paused. "You've got yourself a space mission."

The room clapped in this decision, with the five crew members absolutely speechless. Guy and John fist bumped each other, Carol stood up from her chair to hug her father, while Hal sat in his chair, his jaw wide opened. "I'm going into space," he uttered out. "I'm going into space!"

The room quieted down, as the President took hold again. "Now, everyone listen up," he announced. "We will arrange a Press Conference in two days to disclose the Mission. Charles Bolden will lead the meeting, with Carl Ferris and myself participating. The five crew members of the mission will also be present. Everyone, you all need to know that this will be one of the most important pieces of information we will reveal about our galaxy of the century. After the announcement, everything changes…"

 _"_ _It was dark that night on my planet of Oa. Famine had struck our crops and our water. It did not rain for months. Our people were dying of starvation and dehydration, and the young were perishing of malnutrition. I went out to find my family food, in hopes that my children wouldn_ _'_ _t go to bed that night hungry. On that night, I found the Lantern_ _…_

 _"_ _Lodged into the side of a cave, I forced the Lantern off and held it in my hands._ _'_ _What was it?_ _'_ _I thought to myself. It looked like it was a light source, or some sort of mysticism. But when I locked eyes with the spiral inside of the Lantern, I knew it was something more_ _…"_

The world changed that next morning, when the White House and NASA both arranged a joint press conference in Houston, Texas and furthermore confirmed the biggest known mysteries of the universe; there was alien life in other galaxies, and that they had proof that took decades to figure out, as well as the country's ambitions to launch a two year long mission using the newly revealed Alan Scott Interceptor I to venture out across the stars and find that alien life, revealing the five crew members participating in the exhibition, and finally a statement from the President himself revealing how he hopes this mission brings forth a new era for the human race.

That afternoon, news outlets went crazy. Conspiracy theorists came out from left and right to commentate on why the American government has hidden this information from us for decades, if it even was true or not. Internationally, especially in Russia and China, the news caught them completely off guard, how the United States managed to be years in advance of the technology they had. But, most importantly, it was finally the time to find out what was out there in the universe. And what happened to them?

"Is it true?" she asked him through the phone. "There's life out there? Like your father said there was?"

"There is, Mom," said Hal. "And I'm going to be out there helping them to find it. Mom, this is the dream I've wanted all my life. I wanted to be out there in space, like Dad. And they finally gave me that chance."

"I know he will be, Hal. Be safe out there. That's all I ask of you. And don't do anything stupid, like you usually do!"

"Don't worry, Mom, I won't. I'll make my old man proud."

 _"_ _When I brought the Lantern back to my people, their eyes grew with glee. This was our salvation to survival. The key to end all of this suffering we had. But as I told my people, this was to be used for more than our selfish needs. This was to be used to help others across the galaxy. To establish a belief that strength, and dedication meant the possession of ultimate good._

 _"_ _And so, that night, the Green Lantern_ _'_ _s were formed, to spread the gospels of the oath across the universe for others to share and worship. In brightest day, in blackest night_ _…"_

* * *

 **In the next chapter, we finally get to see Hal and the others launch as they journey out into the unknowns of space to find out what happened to the Green Lantern Corps. Stay tuned as we embark on just the beginning of this epic story of The Book of Oa, only on DC Redux.**

 **Catch the other stories that take place in the same continuity, like 21st Century Superman, Incandescent Legacy, Killed in Action, and Beyond Gotham, and there** **'** **s still many more to come from the writers of DC Redux.**


	4. Launch

**DC Redux Presents**

 **The Book of Oa**

 **Written by Bodhi Ouellette**

 **Chapter 3 -** _ **Launch**_

* * *

 **NASA Launch Site; Houston, Texas:**

December 14th, 2014. The day half of the world has been anticipating. Since the announcement of the Interceptor mission, preparation had been highly reported by news outlets, with weekly updates on the status of construction, to documenting the crew's extensively brutal training. There was a countdown on every news station; CNN, MSNBC, Fox News covered the mission extensively, being the twenty-four-hour news stations, they almost had to. ABC News, CBS News and NBC all covered the mission, and had their own countdown clock once December rolled around, building the American people up to one of the most important space missions since the first Moon landing. The prospect that there is alien life beyond the solar system was important to build up.

As for the rest of the world, their were more mixed. While Canada and most of Europe were excited about the mission, other countries such as China and Russia felt bitter about the prospect that America discovered this before any other country, proving their advancement in the race to space than their competing nations. As such, their reports were brief, and less in detail and excited than their American news counterparts. But their respective space programs were all eagerly awaiting the results of the mission, and even revealing their intentions to work with the U.S. for future space missions.

N.A.S.A., knowing that this mission would gain a lot of attention with the public, announced their intention to document the mission, with a life feed being displayed by modified GoPro's attached to the spacesuits, which would redirect back to Planet Earth and offer the whole world a first look at the discoveries the crew of the Interceptor would find.

The stakes were high. Hal Jordan confirmed this when he entered into a small docking room, as he witnessed the live reporting coming from Anderson Cooper of CNN, actively updating the American people of the launch. Hal gulped, knowing that this was the day everything may screw up for him. It screwed him over the last two or three (he couldn't remember) times he failed at the simulations. Now he was in charge of piloting the most advanced spaceship ever built. Luckily, the months leading up to the launch gave him time to complete his tests, and pilot the ship with little error. Even so, Hal still felt nervous embarking on a trip that would take two years to complete.

His trait of thought stalled when the rest of the crew entered the docking room, suiting up in their newly designed spacesuits. They were thinner, more compact, and more durable and mobile. Guy looked over at Hal, still watching the screen, blankly. "Hey, toolshed!" Guy shouted. Hal looked over at Guy, returning back to reality. "You're not chickening out now, are you?"

"God no," Hal spoke, clearing his throat. "No way. I'm just… y'know, thinking about how I'm gonna miss this place a little bit."

"I'm not," Gardner replied back. "Not really, that is. I mean sure I'll miss some family. Ain't gonna miss my wife either. It is what it is."

Hal looked across with the other members. "What about you guys?" he asked.

"I'm the kind of guy who no matter what the situation is, takes that chance," stated John, attaching the velcro onto his boots. "We only live once; why not make something out of it?"

"And you Adam?"

"Space has always been my dream world," admitted Adam, sharing the same reasonings as Hal. "I grew up reading science fiction novels and movies, which influenced me to join N.A.S.A. Now I get to do something I've always wanted to do since I was a little kid. I'll miss this place, but at least I get to know that I'll be coming back."

Hal nodded. "Same here, Adam."

Gardner, Stewart and Strange all left the room quickly, all suited up for the mission. Carol approached Hal, placing her arm on his shoulder. Hal looked up. "You okay, Hal?" Carol asked him.

"Yeah, I'm fine…" he paused. "I'm just afraid, is all."

"Afraid of what?"

"Afraid of screwing this up, I suppose… Who knows what could go wrong, during launch and after."

"That's the risks we have to take, Hal." Carol kneeled down face to face with Hal. "I know how you're feeling. I feel the same way as you, except on a much higher scale. This entire mission is determined by the success of me as a leader, and the rest of my crew. If anything happens, it's on me, not you, Hal. But we can't back down now. The whole world is watching us. We'll do fine, trust me."

Hal and Carol shared a little smile together, which translated to her hand being placed onto his. They had spent six months together preparing for this mission, and in that time they bonded a lot. They had a mutual friendship that both of them wondered if that could become something more. The two never considered it, until this moment.

But that discussion needed to be saved for another time. Carol got back up. "Come on, let's go make history."

Hal smirked. "Roger that, Captain."

" _We traveled across the stars, arriving on such planets like Bolovax Vik, where we encountered the first species that would adopt the Lantern as the one above all gods. When we showed them the Lantern, the race of Bolovaxians, mesmerized by it_ _'_ _s all-knowing, all-seeing capabilities they bowed down to its will with open arms._

" _They knew, just like we knew, that the Lantern was the one true God of this universe. The foundation this world is based on its powers_ _…_ _And so we continued, folding other races into the following of the Green Lanterns_ _…"_

The countdown was ten minutes. News outlets were parked hundreds of feet away from the launch site, along with thousands of citizens there watching as the Alan Scott Interceptor I awaited the final preparations. The crew crossed the bridge connecting the tower and the ship, entering inside with little issue.

Inside of the ship, the clean hallways led the crew up to the main cockpit area of the ship, all five taking their respective seating arrangements. Hal and Carol were placed upfront, while Guy, John, and Adam sat behind. Hal flipped on a row of switches, with Carol and the rest doing their own configurations to the ship. Suddenly, a young woman's voice could be heard over the intercom. "Hello, Interceptor Crew," the voice announced. "Incoming live feed from Director Ferris."

"Patch it through, AYA," Carol stated. A small screen popped up on the clear window seeing outside of the ship. Carl and others were standing in front of a webcam. "Afternoon, Crew," he announced. "Everyone excited to go to space?"

"Damn right we are, Director!" Guy exclaimed.

"Like your enthusiasm. Now listen up, you launch in two minutes, so I'll just keep it short; give us daily updates on your journey just so you guys are alone or going crazy, or dead. Smile for the cameras, and have a safe trip out there, everyone. Carol, stay safe, I'll miss you very much, dear."

"Don't worry, father," Carol replied, "We'll be safe. Thank you."

"Alright, you're good to go, Carl out." The screen disappeared. Carol looked over at Hal.

"You're good for the countdown," she said. "Lead the way."

Hal nodded. "Okay, crew, main engines on?"

"Check!" John confirmed.

"Backup engines? Rear engines? Escape pods well to go if we need them?"

"Check, check, and check sir!"

"...Everyone buckled in?"

Guy realized he wasn't, and he quickly attached the belt buckles over his torso. "Now we are!"

"Alright. Countdown to launch. Fifteen… fourteen… thirteen…" the ship started to rumble a bit, as the main boosters began to heat up. "Twelve… eleven… ten… nine…" the shaking increased, all five of them were bouncing around their seats. The ships built in stabilization chairs did little to prevent such shaking. "Eight… seven… six…" at this time, all systems were good to go, but the countdown wasn't over yet. "Five… four…" At that moment, a thought crossed Hal's mind whether or not he would regret making this decision to go into space. Whether or not it would be worth it. Hal knew it was the right choice. "Three… two… one. Blast off!"

He pushed the lever down to full speed, and when he did, the ship levitated off from the ground and began flying high into the sky, faster than any spaceship designed since. The crowd below marveled as what seemed like a new space race has just commenced.

* * *

 **Outside Earth** **'** **s Atmosphere:**

It took the ship less than a minute to arrive outside of Earth's atmosphere. There was an even greater risk of the ship not having enough time to depressurize itself through the transition of atmospheres, something Hal make sure he'd be careful about when they finally made it out into space. When everything was set and done, and the red blinking lights stopped flashing, the crew had finally made it out, alive. Carol looked back at her crew. "Congrats everyone, we made it into space."

"Yay, we didn't die!" Gardner exclaimed.

"Yet," Stewart followed up, grinning.

"That's not funny, dude," he replied back. "That's really not funny. I'm actually terrified for my life now."

"Settle down friend," John replied back. "Sheesh, y'think you'd take a little bit of dark humor coming from the Gingerbread Man."

"You asshole!"

"Alright boys, that's enough, and watch your language!" Carol interrupted. "Guy, prepare the thrusters. Adam, set the coordinates up so the autopilot can take over. John, arranged for the pitstop we're taking."

"Pitstop? Where?" Hal asked.

"We're visiting the Moon, Hal. To show everyone how fast this ship can go." Carol replied as she points to her GoPro camera attached to her shoulder. "Remember, we're showing the whole world our journey too."

"Right," he looks over at Carol's GoPro and waves. "Hi, family! Hey, members of the Gardner family, your son's a real asshole."

"Language guys!" Carol screamed back. "Come on! Every Time you swear N.A.S.A.'s the one that yells at me for it!"

"Oh, well in that case," Gardner started to pronounce a bunch of obscene swears before Carol threw a wrench at Gardner's shoulder. "Ow!"

"Keep that potty mouth up and I'll throw you out of this ship," Carol threatened. "Now get ready to make a trip to the Moon. Strange, have the coordinates been implemented into the ship's A.I.?"

"Affirmative, Captain," Strange replied. "Ready AYA?"

"Confirmed: Location to Earth's Moon. Launching in five."

"So… what do I get to do?" Hal asked.

Carol sat back into her seat. "Relax and enjoy for a moment, Hal. And just watch as this thing takes us to the Moon in three minutes."

Without warning, the Interceptor blasted into space at almost light speed, emitting a green trail behind. Because of the way the ship was built, there is a little resistance of gravity holding the crew back from being flown back to their seats. They saw as the stars passed their vision like strings of lights, and the view of the Moon getting bigger and bigger. Within three minutes, they had arrived right next to Earth's Moon.

* * *

 **Moon:**

The ship ended it's autopilot mode, and Hal quickly took back control of the ship, efficiently planting the Interceptor onto the surface of the Moon. Everyone unbuckled out of their seats and prepared their space suits to be the first humans to step on the Moon since 1974. A ding sound played through the speakers. "Air decompression successful," informed AYA. "Preparing to open hatch in three… two… one…"

The hatch opened below. "Hal, do the honors," suggested Carol.

He turned back around. "Yes, Ma'am," Hal replied back. He took the first step onto the thickly dusted surface of the moon, the first human to do so in over forty years. The rest of the crew followed Hal, as he continued walking forward to gaze up at the beautiful sight of his home world. His father wasn't kidding when the view of Earth from the moon was breathtaking, and now he gets to see it for himself. Nothing could beat such a powerful image as this unless this trip offers some even more excellent sights. "Y'see this folk back on Earth?" Hal spoke to the GoPro on his shoulder. "It doesn't get any better than this for me."

Behind him, Adam Strange opened a viewfinder with a digital recreation of the map of the galaxy, zooming in with his index and thumb onto the Earth, where the location of the destroyed Green Lantern base is located. "Up ahead is where the base is located," he said. "Let's check it out before we head off."

The Crew all embarked on a short walk towards the same ravine ditch that held the crumbling speck of rock and metal that the old Green Lantern base, once steadily in tact, now reduced to a lonesome pile of debris. By doing this, the entire world could see that the Green Lantern base was no lie. The truth existed. Aliens are real, and this was the proof of their existence, somewhere, in the expansive galaxy, they were tasked to explore…

" _Within the first few years, we managed to spread the Oath to hundreds of planets, teaching them the ways of the Lantern, repeating the passage over and over until the light shined brighter and brighter. In the year after that, thousands of planets were recruited into the rule of the Oath._

" _I felt proud to have seen how fast the words resonated into the minds and hearts of trillions of lives across the galaxy. That it has united more nations together under one roof, one belief. That the light will protect us all_ _…"_

When the Crew returned to the ship the hatch closed behind them. After another second for the ship to pressurize the air, they all took off their helmets and returned back into the main deck. "Guy, upload the footage into the database and send it over to N.A.S.A.," ordered Carol. "John, start up the engines again to prepare for another launch. Adam, write in the report of our trip, and Hal, sit yourself back down and prepare for lift-off."

"Got it," stated Hal, sitting back down in his seat. "So… how did it feel? Stepping onto the Moon for the first time?"

"I just wish we could've stayed longer," John replied back. "Damn, we should've made a Christmas card and sent it to everyone!"

"Next planet we go on, we'll do it," Hal commented.

"Alright, ships ready to go," John announced.

"Let's get to it…" Hal brought the control stick up, lifting the ship off of the Moon's surface. When the ship was away enough from the Moon, Adam punched in the coordinates of the next Sector they would be traveling in.

"Alright, you're good for now Hal," Carol said. "AYA, prepare the thrusters for full speed."

"Coordinates enabled. Prepare to launch in five… four… three… two… one…"

Much like before, the ship zoomed through space at lightning speed, but once again the ship's unique built design created less force inside allowing for the Crew to not be affected by the overall power of speeding through space thousands of miles at a time. They prepared for their next exhibition into the unknown, passing by Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, and further out, leaving their own solar system. They watched as they saw their entire galaxy flash before their eyes. And the world would be able to see it with them…

Somewhere Outside the Milky Way Galaxy:

The ship was docked in space for a little bit, allowing for the ship to cool down, as the Lantern powering the whole place had overloaded. This gave the crew time to contact N.A.S.A. back at home, which was displayed on the ship's window. Carl Ferris was sitting front and center along with the rest of N.A.S.A.'s controllers. "How's it like out there in space?" Carl asked. "Hopefully it's not too lonely, you've got plenty of company with Guy over there."

"It's only been two days, Dad," Carol replied back. "We're all feeling a little bit homesick, but beyond that, we're all okay."

"Glad you guys are making it out there okay," Carl said. "Now, you all know where your next stop is at?"

"Yes, sir," Adam interjected. "We've set the coordinates of the first planet we're visiting near the Artemis Sector, number 25.1998."

"Good. Be prepared for any hostile invaders that might be on there. And be careful about terrain too. Otherwise, good luck on your quest, and can't wait to see the results. Carl out." The screen disappeared. Carol turned around over at Guy, who just entered the room.

"How's the battery?" Carol asked.

"Still needs a few more minutes of cool down," Guy said. "We should be ready to launch pretty soon."

"Thanks for the update Guy. John, could you bring Hal and Adam over to the armory?"

"Sure can do," John said.

"Armory?" Hal asked. "We've got an armory on this ship?"

"They gave it to us in case we were ever to encounter hostile beings," Carol answered. "Now go on and follow John."

The two followed John down the halls down into a special room. John placed his thumb print onto the screen on the wall, recognizing it as John Stewart's thumbprint. When they entered, the lights turned on to reveal a large room with different kinds of artillery, including pistols, rifles, shotguns, rocket launchers, heavy machine guns, and turrets, amongst entire drawers full of ammo and grenades. Hal and Adam looked at the room with their jaws dropped to the ground.

"Jesus Christ, did they expect us to be prepared to take on a freaking army?!" Hal exclaimed.

John looked back at the two, picking up the M16 off the wall of weapons, smiling. "Just a precaution guys. You've gotta understand that in any case of emergency, we'll be set to take on an entire army if we have too." John flung the gun around his shoulder and grabbed two pistols and handed them to both Hal and Adam. "You guys know how to shoot a gun right?"

"Yeah," Hal replied.

"Uhm… not really?" Adam admitted. "I mean, I get the gist of it. You just, point and shoot, right? How hard can it be?"

"It's not that easy, dude," John replied, beginning to start a spiel about how to handle a gun, then just sighed after looking at the utterly confused face of Adam. "Just don't accidentally shoot us, okay?"

Adam nodded. "Got it."

"Powers back at one hundred percent!" Guy announced down the halls. "We're ready to launch!"

"Wait, Guy not yet, let us get back to the deck-" John panicked, followed by the ship launching to their next location, a full fifty-five hundred thousand miles away from their location. Hal, Adam, and John all fell down onto the floors as the initial force of the travel and their unpreparedness knocked them back. They grabbed onto a couple of railings to bring them back onto their feets, stabilizing them, and they were able to move up into the Main Deck, where Carol and Guy sat down. "Guy you piece of shit!" John screamed. "We weren't even ready to launch yet!"

Guy couldn't stop laughing. "I know right?! I didn't even believe AYA would launch so fast!"

"Urgh. Gonna purposefully shoot you one of these days, Guy..."

Artemis Sector, Planet 25.1998:

The Interceptor reaches it's destination, stopping near the unknown planet they've just arrived on. "Ladies and gents, we've arrived at our first planet," Carol announced.

Taking a quick view of it, Hal and everyone else noticed the similar surface it has with Mars; a rocky, orange landscape with patches of large bodies of water located around too. Some parts also look to have dense forests as well, but for the most part is a dried out landmass desperate for rain. "Do we know where the Lantern base is on this planet?" Hal asked.

"It should be in the coordinates," Adam replied.

"You can take control of the ship now, Hal," Carol stated.

"Roger that," Hal replied.

Hal once again took hold of the ship, piloting it towards the surface of the planet. After entering into the planet's atmosphere, he carefully positioned the ship to land safely on the flat surface. Another soft landing from the best damn pilot in the galaxy. "And you guys thought I'd kill us all on this mission," Hal joked.

"You're not out of the ball just yet, cowboy," Guy replied.

All of the crew members got up from their seats and enacted the same steps before the hatch opened up. The air depressurized in the ship, and the hatch opened up. The crew stepped out one by one, seeing the immensely dense desert location they landed on. Mountains could be seen in the distance, and on the surface, a small ravine full of the planet's natural water. Carol turned over to face Adam and Guy. "You two, start collecting samples from the planet," she ordered.

"Guys…" John paused. "Look what I just found."

The crew rushed over to John, who was looking down on the ground, where the skeletal remains of an alien corpse remained. They looked back amazed and also sickened. "Jesus…" Guy exclaimed.

"We'll have to collect the body too," Carol stated. "This is going to be an amazing discovery for N.A.S.A."

"Look up even further," John replied. The crew then noticed more skeletal remains sunk into the ground. They follow the trail of bodies to find the destroyed Green Lantern base in a big crater, full of hundreds, if not thousands of corpses in the middle. "I'm thinking we've got a pretty good idea as to what happened to these guys," John added.

Hal was in awe. All the bodies were of the same kind. An entire species, it seems, completely wiped out by an unknown evil. He wondered how anyone could do such a thing, to commit a genocidal act. It made him, and all the other crew members sick. "Let's see if there's anything inside of the base…"

Hal had collected dozens of leftover books and scriptures that weren't burned or charted from a suspect fire that burned everything in the archives room of the crashed base. With the help of Adam, he was able to read the contexts of what was inside of the books, reading their interesting society, and ways of life. They lived predominantly vegan lifestyles, not eating any of the planet's animal life, instead reserving to consume fruits and vegetables. They would pray every night in a mosque, worshipping against a statue of their founder, Krona, holding the Green Lantern in his hands, repeating the Oath over and over again. In brightest day, in blackest night, kept coming up over and over again in these books. But for some reason, what was missing from all of these books and journals was something about what happened to them. Nothing was mentioned about the evil that had come to wipe them from existence. He couldn't find anything that explained what caused the destruction of the Green Lanterns. There was still so many other planets to explore, however, so maybe they would find something, anything that helped solved their answers…

* * *

 **Space; April 7th, 2015:**

It had been almost five months since the Crew have embarked on their mission into the deep space that haven't been explored before. In that exploration, they've visited thirty-seven different planets, including twelve moons, passing through all kinds of difficult terrain like asteroid belts and almost being caught inside of a black hole. But in their time in space, they've examined seventeen different alien race skeletal remains, countless books and scriptures collected, and other plant and water samples, they were able to send back information to N.A.S.A., enough to cement the existence of alien life. It was a historic moment in American history, and for the human race in general. It was the kind of news that wouldn't stop being reported, not even the built up to the presidential election could sway away from the daily news the Alan Scott Interceptor was bringing from their adventures.

Things had begun to stall, however, when the ship's battery started to shut down repeatedly through the journey. Guy was in charge of bringing the battery back in shape, but to no avail. This worried Carol, and the rest of N.A.S.A. on Earth. Without the battery to travel around in space, they would have no way home. Carol approached Guy while he was doing another session fixing up the wires connecting the battery to the rest of the ship. "How are things in there, Guy?" she asked.

"Making a little bit of progress," Guy answered. "But still being a pain in the ass. It'll turn on, then turn off, then on, and then back off. I don't get it."

"Well keep going, we need to bring this battery back in shape if we're ever to travel any further in space, or go home."

"On it, Captain."

Carol left, continuing down the hall, where Hal was the only one present in the Main Deck. She sat back down next to him, leaning against her chair, pressing her fingers against the temple of her head. "God damn, this is going to be difficult," Carol exhaled. "I hope this thing gets back into shape."

"Have you contacted N.A.S.A. about the problem?" Hal asked.

"I did yesterday," Carol answered. "We're going to see if we can get the battery back online before deciding whether or not to continue on our mission, or head back home."

"Be a shame if we did have to cut the trip short."

"But at the cost of either getting home safely or being stuck in space with no way to get back, it's not worth it."

"Yeah I know…" Hal leaned forward and touched Carol on her shoulder. "Hey, you're doing great, Carol. We'll be fine."

She smiled back. "I know. I have you, remember?"

"Yeah, you do." They continued to lock eyes, desperately wanting to share a kiss, but with the cameras on, they didn't risk it. They told nobody, not even their own crew that they had started a relationship together. Not even their families back home, not even her father, as it would create a conflict of interest. The only times they were able to be together was at night, alone, with the cameras off. Beyond that, the secret was only between the two of them. Their moment was cut when the red blinking lights displayed above in the ship, and the blaring alarms echoed through the ship. The two looked forward to finding the screen outside of the ship isolating a bright light in space, growing bigger and bigger. The rest of the crew rushed into the Main Deck.

"What the hell is that?" John exclaimed.

"Zoom in!" Carol commanded the ship. The screen zoomed into a bright green figure, with pink skin, surrounded in a green aurora of light. Behind him, was a trail of red and blue mechanical robots in pursuit.

Hal gulped. "Is… is that-"

"A Green Lantern?" Adam interjected. "Yeah, I think that is."

"Put your helmets on, and get out of the Main Deck!" Carol ordered. "Attach yourself to the ship! Grab some weapons!"

All of them rushed to get their helmets onto their heads, and each grabbed a weapon to carry. They attached to their waists belts that were connected to the ship, and before they knew, the Green Lantern crashed through the ship's windows, causing the pressure to destabilize, dragging all of them towards the broken shattered window. A swarm of Manhunter robots entered into the ship, and surrounded the wounded Green Lantern. As they were about to stab him, John, Guy, and Hal all unloaded a clip of their ammo into the robot's, with little damage. But they were not concerned with the crew of the Interceptor, as their target was the alien. The alien swerved around, cutting off two of the Manhunters in half, destroying them, then pushed them away with his ring. He closed the gap with a ring construct, then looked over at the crew. "Get out of here!" he said to them. "I will hold them off!"

"Quick, everyone! Get into the escape pods!" Carol exclaimed. All five of them began making their way into a room which had five escape pods, each for the crew members. They all started entering into the pods.

"This is not what I was expecting to happen today!" Guy shouted.

"Shut up and go!" Carol replied. "If any of you are still alive, after this, send a relay message, we'll see where each of us are!"

"Roger!" John replied.

"Affirmative, Captain," said Adam.

"Hal, get into an escape pod!" Carol ordered.

He stopped. He knew he needed to help out the alien back out there. He couldn't leave him behind, even if it meant his death. "I can't," Hal said finally. "I have to go out there."

"Hal, listen to me, if you don't get into an escape pod, you will die!" Carol told him, with desperation in her voice.

"I'm sorry, Carol… I have to do this…" he said, before running out of the room.

"No!" she screamed "Hal, get back here!" were the last words she said before all the escape pods launched each and every one of them on a different trajectory, hastily sending the crew in different parts of space.

Meanwhile, with Hal still on board, he saw the injured Green Lantern, lying back beside the walls, blood pouring out from his back, and he quickly approached him. He kneeled down and comforted him. "Hey, you're gonna be okay," Hal said to him. "You a Green Lantern?"

"I am…" the weak Green Lantern replied back. "I'm afraid, that I will not have much time left…"

"What happened to you? What happened to the Green Lanterns?"

He looked over to the robots trying to break his construct. "They happened. The Manhunters… Hunting us down like mad dogs… Please… I need you… to keep the dream alive…"

"I'll do anything it takes. What's your name?"

He took the ring off of his finger, then placed it onto Hal's palm, the construct still existing. "Abin Sur. Remember me… remember the Oath. Now go… go and save yourself…" His head went limp, finally succumbing to his wounds. Hal looked around, seeing the construct quickly falling apart. He ran down the halls and into the room with the Battery in place. Behind him, he can hear the construct finally breaking apart. As he stuck the ring on his finger, he placed it out to the battery, and began reciting the oath.

"In brightest day, in blackest night…" the heavy footsteps of the Manhunters came closer and closer. "No evil shall escape my sight… let those who worship evil's might… beware my power… Green Lantern's light!"

Then, with a bright flash of Green, his astronaut suit fused with the Green Lantern ring, creating a black spiral of space wrapping around him, with the symbol of Will protruding from the center of his chest. The entire ship engulfed in the massive power surge of the ring, electrifying everything, and destroying the last remaining Manhunters on the ship. In the end, the entire ship exploded, leading nothing but the Last Green Lantern and the battery, zooming through the empty universe, as Hal Jordan passed out from the overwhelming power that was the Green Lantern's light…

* * *

 **Wow! A lot has happened in this chapter! The launch of the Interceptor, the discoveries made, and the destruction of the ship, all the while the Crew is split apart, and Hal Jordan has gotten the ring from the Last Green Lantern. See where this exciting and sudden take of the story goes in the fourth chapter of The Book of Oa, where are characters are stranded on different, and even hostile planets! Catch up with the other DC Redux titles while you're at it, including reading the completed Incandescent Legacy, by James Brady, and other titles like 21st Century Superman, by Joey West and Beyond Gotham by Ivan Krolo! Wave 2 of DC Redux is near, so stay tuned for new story arcs, and new series reimagining your favorite characters!  
**


	5. The First Christmas in Space

**DC Redux Presents**

 **The Book of Oa**

 **Written by Bodhi Ouellette**

 **"** **The First Christmas in Space** **"**

 **Note: This special takes place during the events of The Book of Oa, Chapter 3.**

* * *

Alan Scott Interceptor I - Orbiting Romulus 314.122

The crew of the Alan Scott Interceptor I have been out in space for two and a half weeks. So far, their journey has reached seven different solar systems, including thirty seven planets, and thirteen that they managed to step foot on, becoming the first humans to reach each of those planets. Every travel was a testament for the human race, from galaxy to galaxy. But today became another milestone for the Crew. Today was Christmas Eve.

The crew was equipped with Christmas decorations before they left Earth. Carol and John decorated the ship with vines and reefs, ornaments and lights hanging from the ceilings, and the ship changed the lights to a red and green tint throughout. Christmas music was playing through the halls. It felt like back home in some cases.

Hal had taken a nap inside his room he shared with Guy Gardner. He took the bottom bed as Guy already called dibs on the top bunk. The lights were off, and Hal was left alone in the room. It wasn't until the blaring sirens went off in his room, blinking a red and green Christmas themed lights. Hal's quick reflexes resulted in him hitting his head on the bottom of the top bunk, bruising it. The speakers went on. "Wake up dickhead!" the familiar voice of Guy Gardner the Gingerbread Man. "Come out of your room and help us decorate!"

"Language!" Carol screamed through the coms to Guy.

Hal sat out from his bed rubbing the bump that's developed. "Someday I'm going to kill him," he murmurs under his breathe.

Hal left his room and made his way down the halls, following the stream of Christmas lights and the echo of Christmas music playing in the Main Deck, where Carol, Guy, John and Adam were all out decorating the Christmas tree. John noticed Hal entering into the room. "You finally got up, spaceman?" joked John.

"Yeah, I'm up," Hal replied. "You guys really went out on the Christmas decorations."

"Why not?" Guy replied. "We gotta get into the Christmas spirit! Besides, this is technically the first Christmas in space. Lighten up, Scrooge. Have some Eggnog." He handed Hal a cup full of the eggy drink.

He pushes the cup away. "That stuff's disgusting."

"Suit yourself," Guy continued to drink more of the Eggnog, leaving behind a silk yellow moustache printed on his upper lip. "Nothing says Christmas like a good cup of Eggnog!" he proclaimed.

Hal looked over around at Carol. "Wow, nice Tree," he said. "Where was this thing located in the ship?"

"Under a movable floor panel," Carol revealed. "Since the launch of the Interceptor happened a week before Christmas, they gave us Christmas decorations so that we can celebrate it together."

"Well that's nice. Though I don't think I'd ever want to be celebrating Christmas with Gingerbread Man over there. Speaking of which, where's your Gingerbread House?"

"I'm gonna beat the shit outta you if you don't stop calling me that," Guy threatened with his mug full of Eggnog.

"Guys, guys, guys!" John interrupted by inserting himself between the two. "We can all agree on one thing; We can easily kick Strange's ass together."

"Oh great, pick on the weak one, why don't ya?" Strange replied.

"I'm just kidding dude."

"Have we gotten anything from N.A.S.A. recently?" Hal asked.

"Just a little video saying Merry Christmas, and that they said we'd be allowed to turn our cameras for a bit," said Carol. "Which we'll need, because what we're going to be playing a very 'not safe for viewing at home' game."

Hal pondered. "Pin the tail on Guy Gardner?"

"I wish, but no."

"It's Spin the Bottle!" Guy announced, pulling out a half empty bottle of ALE. "Truth and Dare. It'll be fun."

"Sure it will," Hal replied back, smirking. "I've got tons of really bad things for Guy Gardner to do-"

'Yeah hold on a sec, let me finish my drink…" Guy poured the rest of the ale down his throat. "Alright, let's do this."

All five of the crew sat around in a full circle in the Main Deck, with the empty beer bottle placed in the middle of the group. All the cameras were off, and the crew watched Guy as he spun the bottle around in a circle. Round and round it went, the anticipation built as to who would be the poor man to be the first victim of Guy Gardner's questions. Then, as it slowed down, the bottle pointed towards Adam Strange, who gulped.

"Alrighty, ya nerdy nerd you," Guy spoke. "Truth; what was your worst Christmas experience?"

"Worst Christmas experience?" Adam repeated. "Hrm… well, when I was still in high school, my I went with my mother to her family's Christmas party, the first time we've went since I was a kid. Before then my parents would always go to my Dad's family for Christmas but after they got divorced I was stuck with my mother for that year. I realized exactly why we never went to visit her family's Christmas party."

"Why's that?" John asked.

"Okay, so you know how I'm kinda weird, awkward, and if probably raised in the wrong household would probably grown up to be a serial killer?"

"That's pretty blunt, but okay."

"Well, they're worse. Except they're also batshit insane too. My uncle, he grew up pretty messed up during his teen years taking tons of drugs and alcohol, ended up in jail three times, parole six, and didn't bother to clean himself up, even at the party. My grandparents were the bitchiest old people you'll ever meet. When we arrived at my grandparents house, nobody made food except for us. I was the only kid there, so it was basically just me and my mother together, having to be at this location which we weren't interested in being in any longer."

"Doesn't sound too bad of an experience," Guy joked.

"It gets even worse, I'm afraid. My uncle went into the bathroom after sticking a chicken into the oven. Over an hour later, the chicken lit the kitchen on fire, and once the fire department arrived, they found my uncle's body dead in the bathroom by a drug overdose. It was safe to say, we were never going to another one of their Christmas parties again."

The whole group was silent for a while, utterly speechless by the story. Hal then cleared his throat. "Well, it's safe to say that probably is the worst Christmas anyone's ever had."

"You're telling me," Adam replied back. "Worst. Christmas. Ever. Hell, I'd rather be having Christmas with you guys over that any time of the week."

"Don't be so nice, you," said Guy. They all laughed. "Alright, your turn to spin the bottle."

Adam spun the bottle, and it landed onto Carol Ferris. "Okay, hrrmmm… Dare; Punch Guy Gardner in the face."

Carol took no hesitation to it, as she reached over the circle and smacked Guy on his left cheek. He reacted back from the punch, as she sat back down in her seat. The others were laughing at what just happened. "Been waiting to do that for so long, you have no idea," she admitted. "Hope I didn't hurt you all that much, Guy."

"To be honest, Captain," Guy started, placing the cold beer bottle onto his cheek. "I barely even felt it."

"Thank god that wasn't on camera," said Carol. "Alright, time to spin the bottle." Carol spun the bottle, this time landing on John Stewart. "Well well well, Mr. Stewart, your turn to shine. Truth; best sex you've ever had."

"Well," John chuckled, placing his beer down beside him. "I was still in the Marines at the time. I was deployed in Afghanistan, and my fellow troops and I were just chilling in our bases. There was this really cute dude in my division. We kinda had a thing for each other. One day, all of our friends went out to get drinks, with my buddy and I were left alone. At the time, that whole "Don't ask, don't tell" bullcrap was still intact at the military. So I wasn't really allowed to tell anybody else that I was gay. And boy, did we go out at it that night." He smirked, then continued to sip down on his beer. "Now that was the best sex a gay man could ever have."

"Tell us your second best sex story, John," Hal joked.

"Pfft, I already went, ask me that the next time the bottle points to me." John flung the bottle around in the circle, now pointing towards Hal Jordan. "Alright, Hal, I'm going with Dare…" He pulled out the jug of eggnog, a cup, a tequila bottle and a vodka glass, pouring all three of the mixtures into the cup. "Drink this."

"Are you freaking kidding me?" Hal complained. "What even is that?"

"It's a concoction of whatever the hell we had on this ship," John explained. "I figured this'll be nasty as hell and I wanna see somebody taste it. Now drink it you pussy." John hands Hal the cup, as he stares down into what looked like piss and shit mixed together to create this foamy residue of egg and alcohol.

"God damn you people," the last words Hal said as he downed the drink into his throat, proceeding to gag at the taste of the drink. It made everyone in the circle laugh hysterically. His tongue was burning. "That's the worst thing I've ever tasted!" he claimed.

"Then it worked!" John replied back.

"Yeah, yeah, okay fine, when the bottle lands on you next time I'm making you eat my shit. Probably tastes better than whatever you gave me."

"That's nothing compared to what I ate in Afghan."

Hal spun the bottle around, this time, it hit Guy Gardner. "Alright, now I've got an interesting one-" Hal started, before Guy cut him off.

"This isn't going to result in me being dressed as a Gingerbread Man is it?" Guy asked, irritated.

"Nah, I'm holding that one off for later," Hal admitted. "This is a Truth; something I've been meaning to ask you. Throughout the trip I've heard everything about their families and stuff, but nothing about yours. So who's your family? Care to explain?"

Guy got really silent all of a sudden. His smart ass smirk that he was associated with went away once Hal asked him the question. He fidgeted with his cup, looking down in his drink. He eyed over at John once for a moment, they looked back at Hal. "It's uh… I don't know man it's a bit complicated," Guy admitted. "My uhm… well my parents adopted me when I was a little kid. Roland and Peggy were their names. They were nice and they loved me a lot. Over time, I just got into the wrong crowd of people, and eventually their love for me kinda strained. Once I was an adult they kicked me out, so I was left alone to do my own thing. That's when I met this girl. Her name was Tora. She's from somewhere in Europe, and we fell in love instantly. She was just amazing."

He paused, fidgeting yet again. "Over time, though, even our relationship had strained. We were married for three years, and she noticed that something was wrong with me. I don't know what it was, or how it went down, but she said to me that I had changed. That I didn't love her the way I would use too. I don't know, things went downhill from there. It was like… I love her, but I don't love her. You know that feeling? Like you appreciate a person, and you admire them so much, but there's a day when you realize that it wasn't meant to be? That you were meant to be with somebody else? That's how it went down. I started to get confused. Who did I love? What did I love? It's just how it is in my life. I try not to be a personal man, but that's just how I am. Don't really like talking much about it y'know?"

Hal reached over to Guy's shoulder, placing his hand on it. "I understand man. Sorry, I shouldn't have said anything to you about it-"

"It's fine. Besides, it was inevitable you guys needed to know a little bit about me. Just not yet ready to say everything about me. Hey, look, guess it's my turn to spin the bottle." Guy continued the game by spinning the bottle once again.

Later on that night, Hal was sitting at the terminal in the main deck, looking at old pictures of him and his Dad, with Christmas music playing in the background. Everyone else was asleep, and he still hadn't gone to bed ye, nor was he really tired. He had realized how much he missed spending time with his family for Christmas, and how this year it was going to be a lot more lonely with his Dad passed and he out in space. But he made sure that he'd call them in the morning and spend some time with his family. He trailed off in his thoughts when he could hear footsteps coming closer. "You still up, Hal?" Carol's voice echoed through the halls.

Hal turned around. "Uh, yeah. Not really tired to be honest. Just looking back on old memories is all. Pass the time."

"Well you wouldn't mind if I gave you this then," Carol handed Hal a small wrapped box with a red ribbon tied into a bow. He untied the bow and opened the box to reveal mistletoe. Below it, a condom was placed snuggly in the box.

He looked up. "What's this?" He asked.

"I think you know what it means," Carol replied back. There was a pause between the two. Then it proceeded with them getting closer and closer until their lips locked. Then their bodies pressed together, as they continued to kiss. The sexual tension between the two grew as they dragged themselves back into Carol's room, where the doors behind them closed up, where the two of them spent the rest of their night together…

* * *

 **A Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of our readers. Catch up on all the other titles in the Redux universe and continue toreador the story of the crew of the Interceptor in The Book of Oa.**


	6. The Point of No Return

**DC Redux Presents**

 **The Book of Oa**

 **Written by Bodhi Ouellette**

 **Chapter 4 -** _ **The Point of No Return**_

* * *

 **Rann:**

The last thing Adam Strange remembered was entering into his pod, suddenly, as the ship he and his other crew members were piloting, the Alan Scott Interceptor, was being attacked by an unknown force. When the pod launched, it trajected him towards the nearest planet in the sector they were in, hurdling him thousands of miles in space until he finally passed out from the heat of entering into the new planet's atmosphere.

It became a shock to him, when he finally regained consciousness to find himself in a stranger's bed, his space suit removed and his shirt gone, leaving his thin muscle less body out, as a woman in a lavish looking dress, with pale yellowish skin, pointy ears, and long beautiful black hair that hung down way past her shoulders. She had a bowl of water and a rag in her hands, as she dampened Adam's head and body. He looked up at her, when she noticed he woke up. "It's okay," the young woman told Adam. "You're safe now."

"Wha… what happened to me?" Adam slurred, confused and yet starstruck at this beautiful figure he had laid eyes on. "Where am I? And who are you?"

"You are here, on Rann," the woman answered first. "My name is Alanna. I found you in that pod landing just outside of the palace. You were inside, the pod was burning hot, like a fiery meteorite. I managed to get you out of there with some help, and I told them to bring you here, so that I could take care of you." She damped his chest, hot red from the temperature of the pod. "What's your name?"

"I… am Adam. My name is Adam Strange."

"Nice to meet you, Adam Strange. What happened to you? Where did you come from?"

"Well… uhm, I uh, I guess…" he paused, struggling to find how to word his journey to an alien woman he's met just now. Does she even know what Earth is? What a human is? He took another deep breath, and let the words fall out of his mouth.

He told her about the mission. About the existence of a Green Lantern base on Earth's Moon that was discovered many years ago. How N.A.S.A., a group formed by the United States of America bent on studying and reaching the stars went to the Moon to retrieve the evidence, using what they found to build a ship that could travel light years into space. How he and his crew were attacked and he had to escape, but explained how one of his members, his friends, didn't make it out alive, sacrificing himself to save the lonesome Green Lantern. And he finalized his story by bringing it back to where he was now, sitting on the bed. Her face showed amazement. "So you are a human?" she asked him. "An actual human?"

"The one and only human," he answered.

"And you are a scientist too, correct?"

"Yes I am."

"My Dad will be very excited to see you then. He too is also a scientist, and will find what you have to say interesting and inspiring to say the least. Here, let me finish up what I have to do, and bring you to my father." Alanna set aside the bowl of water and the rag, and helped put his shirt back onto his body. If one thing was for certain, he definitely wasn't expecting a gorgeous alien woman caring, then dressing for him, Adam Strange, the most nerdiest man alive. "Come, follow me…"

The last thing Carol Ferris remembered was entering into her pod, suddenly, as the ship she and her other crew members were piloting, the Alan Scott Interceptor, was being attacked by an unknown force. Before it launched, she cried out the name of one of her crew, the pilot Hal Jordan, as he went back to help out the injured alien Green Lantern. When the pod launched, it sent her towards the nearest planet in the sector she was in, hurdling her thousands of miles in space until she finally passed out from the heat of entering into the new planet's atmosphere.

When she woke back up, she found herself still stuck in the escape pod, prying herself out feeling the immense heat the pod collected from entering in the atmosphere. She toppled over, gasping, tears running down her face. "God damn you, Hal!" she screamed. She punched the ground before calming down for a moment, then assessing her location, noticing the very pinkish landscape and skies. It almost hurt her eyes to look at, partially because it was almost blinding, and also because it was ugly looking to Carol. She checked on her right shoulder of her GoPro was still active, which it was, but whether or not it was sending a signal to Earth was a different story. Believing it wasn't, she took the GoPro off and started showing the location of her area, recording it. "If anyone can hear or see me," she started. "My name is Carol Ferris, Captain of… was captain of the Alan Scott Interceptor I. As far as I can tell, my fellow colleagues Doctor Adam Strange, John Stewart, and Guy Gardner all survived escape, and are hopefully safe somewhere out in the galaxy…" She stopped, totally forgetting about the whereabouts of the other crew members and hoping that they were safe and sound from the dangers that lurk out in the universe, and then there was Hal. "Shit… we, uh… may have lost a crew member unfortunately. Hal Jordan. We don't know if he's still alive or not. God, I hope so, but I have… little hope, I'm afraid…" tears returned to escape her eyelids. "God damn you, Hal… Alright. I will see what I can find here on this planet. Hopefully nothing kills me here, though it's not like this trip matters anymore…"

The last thing John Stewart remembered was entering into his pod, suddenly, as the ship he and his other crew members were piloting, the Alan Scott Interceptor, was being attacked by an unknown force. When the pod launched, it trajected him towards the nearest planet in the sector they were in, hurdling him thousands of miles in space until he finally passed out from the heat of entering into the new planet's atmosphere.

When he woke back up, John Stewart found it very curious that his escape pod was propped up next to a tree, with his hatch opened. He jumped down from his pod to look at the luscious forest he crash landed at, trees as tall as skyscrapers covered his vision, with some alien birds soaring above him. Various vines, smaller trees and shrubs filled the grounds. John Stewart felt like he had just entered Pandora. It couldn't possibly be a hostile location, could it be?

Wherever he was, John Stewart felt he needed to scout around the location for a bit, and embrace the warm environment he so kindly was invited to. When John reached the edge of a cliff he could see an even bigger landscape of more trees and mountains, tall creatures and birds roaming around. And eventually, he heard a buzzing sound, and two trees in the distance fell over, startling a flock of birds away. More trees started falling over. He couldn't help if he had just fell into a portal and seriously believed he had landed into the world of Pandora. Then as he turned around to walk back he was shocked to see a native of the planet right in front of him. It had big black bug like eyes, and a long head that curved back like floppy skin. The alien wore robes and over his shoulders a bow with a basket sewn case of arrows, and some sort of assault rifle. The alien spoke a bunch of gibberish that John couldn't understand. "I wish I could understand what you said, but I haven't a clue," John said, physically shrugging to help the alien understand what he was talking about.

The alien then slowly approached him with a flower in his hands. John grabbed the flower and looked up to see him make an eating motion. John, hesitantly, took off his helmet, not greatly affected by the atmosphere change, and ate the flower. After he swallowed, he was puzzled. "What was that for?" John asked.

"It's so you can understand what I'm saying," the Alien replied back. "I saw the thing you came in land in this area. I wanted to make sure that you were okay. What's your name?"

"John Stewart. I'm from Planet Earth."

"Planet Earth? Never heard of such planet."

"I figured you wouldn't."

"My name is Saint Walker. Since you are up and not a threat, let me bring you to my people. We have food and shelter. There you can tell me more about your journey."

"Sounds good, Thank you, Saint."

"It's my pleasure to help any and all individuals in need of assistance." Saint started a new trail back to his people, with John following.

The last thing Guy Gardner remembered was entering into his post, suddenly, as the ship he and his other crew members were piloting, the Alan Scott Interceptor, was being attacked by an unknown force. When the pod launched, it trajected him towards the nearest planet in the sector they were in, hurdling him thousands of miles in space until he finally passed out from the heat of entering into the new planet's atmosphere.

It came to a surprise to Guy when he woke back up to a blinding light shining down on him, and the barrel end of a rifle pointing at his temple, with weird mumbo jumbo spewing out from a group of alien's mouths. They then pulled him out of the broken pod and threw him onto the ground. Before he could get back up and fight, they pinned him down, as another alien with six arms placed a collar on his neck and chains around his wrists. "There…" the alien uttered. "He should understand us now."

"We're taking you in, sir," another alien stated to Guy.

"In? In where?! What for?!" Guy protested. "I didn't do anything!"

"We know," one of the aliens replied back. "But you have entered onto Warworld. Anyone who enters on Warworld must be a prisoner sentenced by whichever form of government in the galaxy still in tact. We're gonna have to take you in."

Guy left the conversation dazed, confused, and overall dumbfounded. Is he really being interrogated this way by a bunch of bug and troll looking aliens? "You're kidding me, right? I'm not dreaming or anything am I?"

"Wish I could say you were. But if you're dreaming, that means we would not be having thoughts go through our brains, and clearly we are living, breathing beings."

"But I don't know that. If it's my dream, you wouldn't mean anything."

"It doesn't matter if you don't know that, what matters is we do," interjected another alien. "And right now, we have to take you in, regardless of where you came from, or else Mongul will have our heads."

"Jesus effing christ, guys, I'm not a damn prisoner! I'm an astronaut from planet Earth, who got caught in some battle with a bunch of red assholes carrying sticks hunting some dude in green-"

"-Manhunters, you mean? And a Green Lantern?"

"Whatever they are! And then I entered into my escape pod, passed out, and now I'm here being interrogated by you tools! Can you unarrest me please and thank you?"

"And I've told you, we can't do that. Anyone who enters onto Warworld is automatically a prisoner."

"... what kind of backwards logic is that?!"

"We don't question the logic Mister, we just enforce it. Now come, we must profile you."

They pulled Guy up to his feet, who began to run away from the group, until one of the guards pulled out their rifle and blasted Guy with a pellet that shocked his entire body, knocking him out instantly. The other aliens look at each other, annoyed. "Finally, he won't be able to bother us now. Let's get him back to the facility…"

The last thing Hal Jordan remembered was reciting the oath of the Green Lanterns, after taking the ring from Abin Sur, the last Green Lantern alive. When he recited the oath, his body transformed; the space suit he wore turned black with spirals of stars and galaxies detailed in the suit, with a bright neon green glowing through the parts of his suit that separated the armor from each other. On his chest, a transparent green plate shielded his upper torso, and the symbol of the Green Lantern imprinted. His helmet also had the same starry background in the blackness, with the green glow illuminated. He destroyed the remaining Manhunter force, destroying the Alan Scott Interceptor I, and flew off into the unknowns of space, with the battery in his hands. He hurdled thousands of miles in space until he finally passed out from the brutal force of space travel.

It came to a surprise to Hal when he woke back up, to find himself crash landed onto an unknown planet, on an unknown beach. The found the view to be nice, relaxing even, but he quickly remembered the situation he was in, and thus looked back down to find himself still consumed by the lasting effects of the Lantern. "Woah," he thought. "That was… awesome."

"You have much to learn Hal Jordan," a voice echoed through the lantern's battery. Hal turned over to look at the lantern, confused.

"Was… that your voice, AYA?" Hal asked.

"Indeed it is," AYA replied back. "When you spoke the Oath with the ring into my battery, I transferred all my energy into that ring you hold now. I am now your companion through this journey."

"It was amazing… I felt… I felt like I had the grasp of my universe under one fist."

"That is how the power of the lantern works. Our energy comes from the collective will power of the ring carriers. Although it was not as strong as it use to be. Before the purge of the Green Lanterns."

"Purge? You went through a Purge?"

"Indeed we did, Hal Jordan. The Manhunters came from an unknown world one day, and before we knew, our Empire had fallen."

"What happened to the Green Lantern Corps?"

"I only know details… the previous Green Lantern I served were spared from the onslaught, luckily. But their fates were sealed, and eventually they ran out of resources. They died believing that the society they followed abandoned them, cutting them off from contact. But that was not true. The Green Lanterns had spared them from the horrific genocide of Green Lanterns by the hands of the Manhunters. As for the destruction of Oa… I cannot say. I could only see the visions of blood and fire rain down from the sky. As they came and slaughtered us one by one. From planet to planet, and galaxy to galaxy…"

"God… a whole genocide. Wait, there were a couple of planets in the Book of Oa that stated that entire societies were members of the Corps. Did they-"

"Every one of them. Anyone who had the Book of Oa, or worshipped the Lantern and the ring were killed."

"I guess it goes to show history likes to repeat itself…" Hal stated, thinking of the genocides committed back on Earth. "Well, don't suppose we should be heading somewhere? You did fly me here after all."

"There is a town about thirty five miles north from here. There you will find someone. They will be able to help us on our journey."

Hal looked through the dense jungles succeeding the beach area. He sighed. "Then I guess we should be heading out I suppose." He stood up, picked up the lantern, and the two embarked into the jungle, twenty five miles to get to the nearest city.

" _There was some opposition, in our quest to spread the joyous and eye opening views of the Lantern. It took days, months, sometimes years to convince an entire planet to submit their former beliefs and embrace a new one. Many years were spent training and influencing these people the ultimate power of the Green Lanterns._

" _But sometimes that led to violence. Our reputation across the galaxy had grown, and little did we know enemies of the Corps rose. They objected to our power, to our ways. That we were engaging in a dangerous crusade across the stars with our Apostles. But we would not give up. We bred and trained soldiers to fight as Green Lanterns. Warriors. All who fought against us did not survive_ _…"_

* * *

 **Rann:**

With his bandages wrapped up, wearing a new suit courtesy of Alanna, Adam Strange followed her through the spacious hallways of the castle, each room they passed grabbing Adam's attention. Adam fell behind, when he stopped to stare into a laboratory with tons of Rann scientists creating some sort of transportation machine, it looked like it came out of Stargate. He plants his face onto the window looking through the room. Alanna turns around, and walked back over to Adam. "Pretty impressive, isn't it?" Alanna stated. "My father is the lead on this project."

"What is it?" he asked her.

"I don't know. My father is not allowed to say what he is working on in the labs. It's confidential."

"Oh… I see," Adam looked back disappointingly.

Alanna noticed this, and placed her hand on his shoulder in comfort. "I can see if the King could allow you to join them, however. They loved the help."

"Could you do that?" he asked.

"I see what can be done. Come, you must meet the King."

Alanna brought Adam back on the path down the halls, which led to a massive chamber, with a bright gold chandelier hanging from the ceiling, and windows on all sides decorated in stained glass windows. The King, along with a younger gentleman, dressed in golden robes with white pieces of cloth covering most of their bodies. They each wore crowns to signify their royalty. Alanna appeared through the corridors, to face the two together. The King was sitting in his throne, while the younger gentleman was standing speaking to him. They turned together when they saw Alanna come through.

The Gentleman was the first to respond. "My dear Alanna!" he cried out. "So good to see you are here." He kissed her on the cheeks. "How was your trip in the dunes?"

"It was fine, Jephro," Alanna replied back. "But I'd like for you two to be introduced to the man I found. And here he is." She turned their attentions over to the human standing behind her. He waved at the two.

"Uhm… hello," he introduced. "I'm Adam Strange. I'm human. And I hear you guys are developing a teleportation machine?"

"Yes… we are," Jephro uttered. "No one's supposed to know what they're working on."

Adam stayed silent for a moment, looking back at Alanna, who knew she was in big trouble for telling a stranger like him of top secret intel. Then, his face lightened up, and he opened his mouth again. "Oh… well I was just making a huge guess on what it was. Y'see, back on my planet of Earth, we've been developing the same type of technology, and, with my PhD degree in astronomy, and my masters in engineering and biology, I feel I could be a valuable asset to you. Also, I need to find my friends."

"You say you are from planet Earth?" the King spoke. "Tell us how you came here?"

"Right, uhm… well, I was a member of an exhibition to venture out into the farthest reaches of space. There were others with me. We were attacked by some… robots I guess. They were red, and robotic looking."

"Manhunters…" the King uttered. "Why would they attack you?"

"They weren't attacking us… they were attacking someone else. A man in green."

"Oh no…" Alanna exclaimed. She turned back around to face Jephro. "Could it be-"

"Abin Sur?" Jephro whispered. "What happened after that?"

"We all went into different escape pods, but one of the other crew members stayed behind to help him out. The pods launched, then the ship exploded, and we all went to separate planets. I landed here, and then Alanna found me. And now here I am."

"Do you remember what the man in Green looked like?" Jephro asked.

"I don't remember seeing much. I do recall he had bright skin. Pink maybe?"

"Oh god, no…" Alanna placed her hand over her mouth. Jephro and the King also reacted with contempt.

Adam looked confused. "What? What's the matter?"

"That man you faced in the ship," Jephro explained; "his name was Abin Sur, the last Green Lantern." He looked over at Alanna, walked over to her and comforted her. "And he saved my love's life. The damned Thangarr's had taken her, along with many others in order to execute them. But he saved their lives, and we thank him for that."

Adam looked over and frowned at the more than personal relationship the two shared. He knew instantly what that meant, and he looked away disheartened. The King spoke out. "So you say you and the people of Earth have been building your own teleporter?"

"Yes, uh, we are indeed." Adam gulped, grinding his teeth nervously/

"Any success?"

"Close. We're _very_ close."

"Then I'm sure our Science Facility will have no objections letting you on board," the King proclaimed. "They'll need all the help they can get." He stood from his throne, stepping down the small set of stairs, and placed his hands on his shoulders. "Welcome to Rann, Adam Strange."

* * *

 **Unknown Planet:**

It had been five hours for Hal Jordan to walk across the terrain of the planet he crash landed on. The pathway up north would lead Hal to the nearest city, where he would find someone to aid him on his journey, whatever that was. The suits air conditioning had been disabled due to the Lantern's power taking over, and Hal struggled to make his way across the rough grounds of the planet. He had taken his helmet off so he could not hyperventilate due to the heat inside of the suit. He breathed heavily, his mouth dry and thirsting for some source of hydration. "How… how far are we from town, AYA?"

"Another five miles till the destination, Hal Jordan," Aya replied back.

"How about any water?"

"I have no way of detecting any nearby H20 samples."

"Well you're a whole lot of help."

"Just keep going. We must make it before sun sets."

Hal exhaled. "Who's in this city that's so damn important that we have to meet them? What've they got to offer me?"

"Someone who knows much about the legacy of the Green Lanterns. Someone very close to Abin Sur. The only one who could be the key to bringing the Lantern's back…"

Hal pondered this thought. When the ring attached itself to his finger, he received bits and pieces of memories taken from Abin Sur's tenure as the former ring bearer. He then remembered seeing a vision of a young girl sleeping besides a resting Abin, who looked suspiciously similar to him. He connected the dots. "His daughter. Iroque."

"That's right. _Iroque Sur_ …"

* * *

 **And Now for Something Completely Different:**

The end barrel of a rifle stuck out of an opened window high above the city skylines, angled down, directed towards another skyscraper about five blocks down, with no building tall enough in between. The rifle was propped with a tripod on the window seal. The sniper, with pale pink skin, scratch marks on his face and forehead, and short combed black hair. His index finger rested on the trigger, waiting for his target to enter into the room five blocks away.

Through the scope he could see about a dozen or so men and women entering the room, seating themselves around an octagon shaped table. He moved his rifle over to one particular individual, sitting in the middle of the table. His earpiece was connected to a voice signal that transferred into that exact room. He could hear murmurs, then silence. "Ladies and gentleman," he started. "Please be seated." Soon enough, shutters started coming down from the top windows. Without hesitation, he pulled the trigger of the rifle, moving back quickly from the window as it shut itself, and eventually, through his earpiece, could hear the bullet enter through the windows before the shutters closed, hitting the subject through the head, as the others screamed, then the coms shut down. The sniper looked back up, packed his gear into an inconspicuous case for the gun, and left the building.

He arrived onto the streets of the cluttered urban city with no one suspicious of his appearance. He arrived down a back alley, where he pulled out a small keypad and entered in an eight digit number. Through the earpiece, another person picked up through the line. "It's done," the man replied back. "I've finished all my bounties for today."

"You're not out of the loop just yet," the other person, with a thicker, deeper voice replied back. "We've got another person adding to your hit list, this one through an anonymous dealer."

"What's the pay?"

"Fourteen million coins."

He slowed down after hearing the ridiculously exaggerated price. "Must be an important bounty if the price is so high."

"Hardly. She's just some unimportant figure who lives in the city. Not sure why they money's so high, but we'll take it nonetheless. I get half, by the way."

"Fine by me. Just tell me who she is and where I can find her."

"You'll find her in the Xiaulug district of town. Her name is Iroque Sur."

"I'll get it done by dawn."

"I know you will, _Thaal Sinestro_. Have fun…"

" _Centuries later, we had encompassed the entire galaxy to convert over to the Green Lanterns. The light shined brighter than ever, with billions of souls connected to the power of will, flowing through their veins, the energy that could not be stopped. It worked because for the first time, we showed them the true light of a God. We showed them that we found the Creator, and that he, or she, wants us to be connected_ _…"_

* * *

 **This is just the beginning! All of our heroes have begun their quests separated from each other, all of them believe they may be dead. Now they must find their way back together through the treacherous Warworld, unknown planets, hostile aliens, and more! Catch the next exciting, action packed issue of The Book of Oa, Chapter 5! And check out the other series from DC Redux today!**


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